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A simple question, but the answer depends on whether it is a "real steel drum" as manufactured today, or an "oil barrel." I will explain.

A standard size for a steel drum is 55 gallons. So in this case 1 barrel = 55 gallons.

When used in context with oil, a barrel = 42 gallons. Oil is not shipped in barrels, but tankers and pipelines, so real oil barrels do not exist. However, it is an internationally accepted unit for oil volumes. So 55 gallons of oil = 55/42 = 1.31 barrels of oil (usually stated as bbls).

See related link, which gives conversions of the oil barrel in other units, such as imperial gallons.

As a final historical note, the unit of 42 gallons may seem odd (why not an even 40 or 50 gallons), but it allowed the buyer to be confident he was getting at least 40 gallons of oil after water settling out in the bottom of the barrel and shrinkage due to cooling and degassing.

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15y ago

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