With the oil crisis continuing it is clearly time to ask why oil measured in ‘barrels.’
The word ‘barrel’ came into English around 1300 from a French source word, with closely related words in Portuguese and Spanish and a medieval Latin word lurking somewhere in the background.
‘Barrel’ has always meant, from the beginning, what it means today—a cylindrical cask.
But to be used as a measurement for oil these barrels must, we assume, be of a standard size—so how does that work out?
Apparently, the story is that in the early days of the American oil industry (mid 1800s) oil was produced in relatively small quantities, and it was often transported in wooden barrels.
The use of barrels as a unit of measurement was largely a matter of convenience, as it allowed oil producers and traders to easily quantify their products.
Eventually the need for standardization became important.
In the late 1800s, the American Petroleum Institute was established, and one of its main goals was to standardize the measurement of oil.
They defined a standard barrel as 42 US gallons, and this has remained the standard unit of measurement for oil to this day.
Of course there are other complications.
An American gallon is 128 fluid ounces, while a British gallon is 160 fluid ounces.
From the days of Richard III, a barrel of wine was defined as 42 ‘wine gallons’—and for some reason ‘wine gallons’ (128 fluid ounces) were less than ordinary water gallons (160 fluid ounces).
In 1824 Britain standardized a gallon as being 20% larger than a ‘wine gallon’—which was then re-labelled a ‘US gallon’ (also known as a ‘short gallon’) because the Americans refused to follow suit.
The result is that a barrel of oil contains 42 US gallons but only 35 British gallons.
And I suspect I have now told you more about barrels of oil than you ever wanted to know!
Tonight I will join John Stanley on 2GB, 4BC, 2CC and the Nine Radio Network for 'The Word Clinic' -- right after the 10pm news (9pm in Queensland). Join us with a talk back call or a text with your comment or question about words and language.
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