Barrel in liters: how many in one liter of barrels

There are measures familiar to us from childhood and are used everywhere: liter, meter, kilogram. And there are some that we learn about indirectly - for example, in the process of reading. These are pounds and miles, poods and arshins. There are still barrels - this word, meaning volumes, regularly flashes in stock exchanges, with the announcement of oil prices. A legitimate question arises: how many liters in a barrel of oil?

Before trying to express a barrel in liters, you need to understand what this term means.

To the history of the issue

In translation from English "barrel" is a barrel. Long ago, barrels carried alcohol, loose and other materials. With the development of oil production, it also began to be transported in these containers, and the shipped goods should also be counted in barrels - barrels.

But this method of counting was not very convenient. First, all the barrels could be of different sizes, which greatly complicated the accounting. And secondly, different materials, transported in identical barrels, significantly differed in their weight. That is, the notion of a "barrel" needed to somehow lead to other units of measurement - in other words, standardize.

Russian "barrel"

By the way, measuring something in barrels is also an old Russian tradition. However, to that to be surprised? Before the appearance of tanks and special containers, the barrels were the most convenient, and sometimes the only means of transportation. And there was the same problem - to concretize this concept. The measured or fortieth barrel consisted of 40 buckets (the Russian "barrel" in liters was approximately 492) and was considered a unit of capacity for alcohol, linseed or hemp oil. There were 10 buckets in the beer barrel, in Riga - just over 12.5. The pitch or powder, also stored in barrels, already represented measures of weight, rather than volume. A barrel of gunpowder weighed 10 poods, and with tar - about 9 poods.

About the metric system of measures

If you look at history or, even easier, leaf through books published in different countries, the reader will be confused by the abundance of various measures. Footsteps, leagues, inches, miles, dozens of European terms, units used in the states of the East - all this was difficult to not only account for, but also understanding. The absence of standards, the ambiguity of individual concepts caused a considerable complexity. The translation of some units into others was also difficult. As the need for a uniformity, an international metric system of units (SI) was developed, using kilograms and meters, as well as their derivatives. This system has been recognized throughout the world, although approaches to it in some places vary.

True, there are several countries where the metric system is not officially accepted. In particular, the United States belongs to such states. And this fact proved to be important for a number of special measurements. For example, the dimensions of CDs, diagonals of TVs , etc., are generally measured in inches around the world. Departure from the metric system is also observed in civil aviation, navigation - here they still use the old terms "feet" and "miles". Is not a metric unit and a barrel.

Barrel as a measure of volume

Sometimes, after hearing about a certain number of barrels, we try to translate the result into tons. This action, albeit quite real with knowledge of the specific mass of the material, is still not too correct. Barrels characterize volume, and tons - weight. It is much more logical to translate barrels into more familiar units of volume, for example, to find out how many liters are in a barrel? In fact - how much?

The answer to this question is not unambiguous, as the notion "barrel" is ambiguous. For example, the English barrel in liters will be 163.65. However, this value has changed many times. The volume of an English barrel depended on what was measured by barrels (beer or ale), and also differed in different years. In the middle of the 15th century, the beer barrel in liters was 166.36, and since 1824 - 163.66.

But 1 barrel in liters can make and 119.24, if it is a question of American wine. The concept of "barrel" is inextricably linked with other, also not related to metric, measures of volume - gallons and Hogsheads. In the USA, when measuring beer volumes, the barrel will be 31 gallons, but for other types of liquids the figure will be different - 31.5 gallons (0.5 hogshed). In the case of measuring the bulk of the answer to the question, how many liters in 1 barrel will be 115.6 (this is the value of the so-called dry barrel).

About the oil barrel

And yet most often the term "barrel" is used to extract and transport oil. The concept of an oil barrel goes far into the past: fuel was extracted by man from ancient times. A single container for the transportation of this product did not exist, some used wooden barrels, and some even wineskins. But the rapid growth in oil production in the 19th century raised the question of the appearance of a more suitable container. In addition, in the presence of different capacities, it is inconvenient to conduct trade and transport settlements, and it was desirable to assign the oil price on the basis of one barrel.

In 1866 in Pennsylvania (America) a meeting of several independent oil owners was held. Among other issues discussed by them was the question of a standard container for the supply of oil. The result of the meeting was the agreement of a standard barrel, representing a volume of 42 gallons. How much is this in more familiar measures? 1 barrel of oil in liters will be 149.

Why 42 gallons?

But why such a volume is taken as a basis? The fact is that by the beginning of the 18th century, barrels of 42 gallon wood were actually standard for transport. In such containers, fish and fat, molasses and wine, as well as other goods, were transported. Barrels of this size were in their own way optimal: not too large and not too small, well placed on existing at that time barges and platforms. And to lift and move such a barrel, filled with oil, was able to one person.

Therefore, the choice of American oil owners was quite understandable and justified. In 1872, in the American Association of Oil Producers, a barrel of 42 gallons was officially approved as a standard. And although no one is currently transporting oil in barrels (for this there are tankers and oil pipelines), but the barrel is still a unit of measurement in the world practice of trade in petroleum products.

Benefits of a barrel

But was it not more convenient to measure the extracted oil in tons, how do coal and grain, metal and fertilizers measure? One of the reasons for the unpopularity of tons is the different density of oil; For the main Russian varieties, its value can range from 820 to 905.5 kg per cubic meter. Similarly, the weight of each unit of its volume varies. And if you answer the question what the barrel of oil in liters is, you can be absolutely sure, then it's already somewhat difficult to know its weight.

So measuring the oil produced and sold in volumes, not by weight, is much more convenient. If we take into account the fact that oil is accepted for transportation with the help of tankers and cisterns, pumped through pipelines, the advantage of such a unit as a barrel becomes irrefutable. However, on the domestic market, unlike the world market, oil is traded in tons, so it is necessary to convert volumes into weight and vice versa. It is already necessary to take into account the oil grade and its density, and special conversion rates are used for calculations.

On the price of oil

But, in what units do not measure the extraction of "black gold", it is still accepted to pay for oil in dollars per barrel. And this is one of the dominant indicators on which not only the economy of a country depends, but also global economic and political development. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of oil for world production, as well as its share in the global fuel balance. As in the case of any other commodity, the cost of oil depends on the volume of its production and consumption.

And at the same time, the price of oil depends on many other factors. World production is constructed in such a way that a rise in prices for "black gold" does not reduce its consumption much, but a drop in oil production may lead to sharp price jumps. It is not surprising that the political component is increasingly felt in oil pricing; More and more players appear on the world scene, wanting to lower or raise the price of fuel depending on their own interests. By the way, the price of natural gas directly depends on the cost of oil. So, in practically all military conflicts of recent times, the "oil" track is clearly visible.

And again about the barrel

The barrel is a measure of volume. This, though the most used, but not the only meaning of this word. The barrel is also one of the terms of poker (card game). The word "Barrel" for some reason became popular for the name of different objects - from the investment company to the night club.