how big is a barrel of oil

A standard barrel of crude oil is defined as 42 US gallons, which is about 159 liters of volume.

Basic size

• Volume : 42 US gallons of oil.

• In metric terms, that is approximately 158.99–159 liters.

• In imperial (UK) units, it is about 35 imperial gallons.

In other units

• A barrel is about 0.159 cubic meters of liquid.

• In energy terms, one metric ton of oil is defined as about 7.22 barrels, used in international statistics.

Not a physical barrel

• In modern oil markets, “barrel” is a unit of measurement, not usually an actual wooden or metal barrel.

• Physical drums commonly seen in industry are often 55-gallon drums, which are larger than the 42-gallon oil barrel unit.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.