Barrel (unit) continued to use the same size barrels. In the worldwide oil industry, an oil barrel is defined as 42 US gallons, which is about litres or 35 imperial gallons. Oil companies that are listed on American stock exchanges typically report their production in terms of volume and use the units of bbl, Mbbl (one thousand barrels), or MMbbl (one million barrels) and occasionally for widest comprehensive statistics the Gbbl (or sometimes Gbl) denoting a billion. There is a conflict concerning the units for oil barrels (see ). For all other physical quantities, according to the International System of Units, the
Barrel (unit) In contrast, one tonne of crude oil might occupy 272 gallons (6.5 bbl) and one tonne of gasoline will require 333 gallons (7.9 bbl). Overall, the conversion is usually between 6 and 8 bbl per tonne. The measurement of an "oil barrel" originated in the early Pennsylvania oil fields. The Drake Well, the first oil well in the US, was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859, and an oil boom followed in the 1860s. 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.