Canadian companies operate internally and report to Canadian governments in cubic metres, but often convert to US barrels for the benefit of American investors and oil marketers. Companies on the European stock exchanges report the mass of oil in metric tonnes. Since different varieties of petroleum have different densities, however, there is not a single conversion between mass and volume. For example, 1 tonne of heavy distillates might occupy a volume of 6,1 barrels litres; US gallons.
In contrast, 1 tonne of crude oil might occupy 6,5 barrels 1, litres; US gallons , and 1 tonne of gasoline will require 7,9 barrels 1, litres; US gallons. Go Portal Magazine. The Drake Well, the first oil well in the U. When oil production began, there was no standard container for oil, so oil and petroleum products were stored and transported in barrels of different shapes and sizes.
Some of these barrels would originally have been used for other products, such as beer, fish, molasses or turpentine. Both the U. Also, U. The 40 gallon whiskey barrel was the most common size used by early oil producers, since they were readily available at the time. In August , at the height of the oil boom in northwestern Pennsylvania, a handful of American independent oil producers met in Titusville.
One of the issues that were discussed at this meeting was the coordination of standard containers for oil supplies to consumers. As a result, a 42 gallon volume was agreed as a standard oil barrel. Already by the year , everyday practice in Pennsylvania and accumulated experience led to the fact that the sealed wooden barrel of 42 gallons became the de facto standard container for transporting fish, molasses, soap, wine, oil, whale oil and other goods.
Barrels with a capacity of 42 gallons when filling them with oil had just such a weight that one healthy person could handle. One person could not cope with larger barrels, and the use of smaller barrels was not so economically advantageous. In addition, 20 barrels with a capacity of 42 gallons were ideally placed on typical, at that time, barges and railway platforms.
Thus, choosing a 42 gallon barrel as an industry standard was a logical and natural step for early oil producers. In , the American Petroleum Association officially approved a 42 gallon barrel as a standard. Currently, oil, of course, is no longer transported in any barrels. It is transported by tankers and oil pipelines. But the oil barrel as a unit of measure remained in the practice of world oil trade.
Popular rumor says that such an abbreviation owes its origin to the phrase blue barrel. The fact is that in the early practice of Standard Oil, it was to paint its oil barrels in blue. The blue barrel was a kind of guarantee that its volume is 42 gallons. That is, one barrel is 1 bl, two barrels is 2 bbl, etc.
In general, the truth is somewhere nearby. But what is a real truth there, it is no longer to find out. Around , early oil producers in Pennsylvania came to the conclusion that shipping oil in a variety of different containers was causing buyer distrust.
They decided they needed a standard unit of measure to convince buyers that they were getting a fair volume for their money, and settled on the standard wine tierce, which was two gallons larger than the standard whisky barrel. Whereas, it is conceded by all producers of crude petroleum on Oil Creek that the present system of selling crude oil by the barrel, without regard to the size, is injurious to the oil trade, alike to the buyer and seller, as buyers, with an ordinary sized barrel cannot compete with those with large ones.
We, therefore, mutually agree and bind ourselves that from this date we will sell no crude by the barrel or package, but by the gallon only. An allowance of two gallons will be made on the gauge of each and every 40 gallons in favor of the buyer. By , the standard oil barrel was firmly established as U.
The 42 gallon standard oil barrel was officially adopted by the Petroleum Producers Association in and by the U. Geological Survey and the U. Bureau of Mines in In modern times, many different types of oil, chemicals, and other products are transported in steel drums.
In the United States, these commonly have a capacity of U. They are called litre or kg drums outside the United States. In the United Kingdom and its former dependencies, a imperial-gallon l drum is used, even though all those countries now officially use the metric system and the drums are filled to liters.
Thus, the U. In the United States, the U. Oil wells recover not just oil from the ground, but also natural gas and water. Similarly, barrels of oil equivalent or BOE is a value that accounts for both oil and natural gas while ignoring any water that is recovered. Other terms are used when discussing only oil. These terms can refer to either the production of crude oil at an oil well, the conversion of crude oil to other products at an oil refinery, or the overall consumption of oil by a region or country.
One BPD also becomes Likewise, barrels per stream day BSD or BPSD is the quantity of oil product produced by a single refining unit during continuous operation for 24 hours. Your Practice. Popular Courses. Oil Guide to Investing in Oil Markets. Commodities Oil. Article Sources. Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts.
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Crude Oil Definition Crude oil is a naturally occurring, unrefined petroleum product composed of hydrocarbon deposits and other organic materials. Partner Links. Related Articles.
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