A standard barrel of oil contains 42 gallons. This is the U. To measure production output, barrels of oil are grouped into classifications by one thousand barrels, one million barrels, and one billion barrels.
There are other international measurements such as liters using the metric system or 35 imperial gallons from the U. As the oil industry evolved, the focus changed simply from volume to density, as density is a better indicator of the value. By the s, barges floated barrels of oil down the Allegheny River to Pittsburgh to be refined into a highly demanded product — kerosene for lamps.
Image from an early oil company stock certificate. Pennsylvania led the world in oil production as demand soared for kerosene lamp fuel. The gallon standard was adopted by the Petroleum Producers Association in To reach railroad station and docks, teams of horses pulled wagons carrying as many as eight barrels of oil.
Rugged northwestern Pennsylvania terrain and muddy roads added to transportation problems. Meanwhile, as derricks multiplied, forests along Oil Creek were reduced to barrel staves by recently introduced barrel-making machinery.
A powerful guild, the Worshipful Company of Coopers, prescribed the manner of construction. Lesser skilled craftsmen known as slack coopers made casks, barrels, and pails for dry goods. That is why the modern standard of oil barrel volume used for pricing and tax is 42 gallons.
In modern industry, oil and chemicals are stored in metal drums, which are far more durable. Oil drums hold 55 gallons of fluid. Finding barrel volume is relevant when measuring the amount of beverage it contains, which is useful for beer-making, wine-making, and measuring other beverages.
Try our volume calculator to find the volume of many other shapes. You are here. Because Pennsylvania was at the forefront of the early oil boom, its practices were soon adopted across the country.
In , 42 gallons became the standard for the Petroleum Producers Association and in , the U. Bureau of Mines adopted the standard as well. In the s, in response to the closing of the Suez Canal , larger tankers that could more efficiently transport oil around the Cape of Good Hope were needed, and so the supertanker was born, and by , ships that held about , barrels were being used to transport crude oil.
As of , the largest supertankers , the TI Europe and the TI Oceania, were able to carry over 3,, barrels of oil in a single voyage. Pipelines were being used to transport crude oil from the beginning of the oil boom in the s, but not until the early s, when demand for petroleum greatly increased, were pipelines built across the country :. During the s, driven by the growth of the automobile industry, total U.
At its height in the s, it was carrying over 2,, barrels each day. By , that was reduced to ,
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