What this converter does
This converter changes oil barrels to cubic metres and back, along with litres, gallons and cubic feet. The oil barrel is exactly 42 US gallons, or 158.987 litres, so every pair uses a fixed factor and results stay precise. Type a value and read the answer instantly.
One barrel of crude is 0.159 m³, so a 1,000-barrel tank holds about 159 cubic metres.
The units it covers
Petroleum volume units, each expressed against the litre.
View all units & their values
| Unit | Symbol | Value | Mainly used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil barrel | bbl | 158.99 | Crude oil trade (42 US gal) |
| Litre | L | 1 | Metric volume |
| Cubic metre | m³ | 1000 | SI, bulk storage |
| US gallon | US gal | 3.785 | US fuel volume |
| Imperial gallon | imp gal | 4.546 | UK fuel volume |
| Cubic foot | ft³ | 28.32 | Gas-equivalent volume |
The formula
Each unit has a fixed value in litres, so any pair converts through the litre:
result = value × factor_from ÷ factor_toWhere:
- value = the number you typed
- factor_from = the “from” unit in litres
- factor_to = the “to” unit in litres
Worked example
Convert 500 barrels to cubic metres.
1 bbl = 0.158987 m³500 × 0.158987 = 79.49 m³So 500 barrels of oil is about 79.5 cubic metres.
The units in this example
The standard unit of crude-oil trade, defined as exactly 42 US gallons (158.987 litres).
- 1 bbl = 158.99 L
- 1 bbl = 42 US gal
- 1 bbl ≈ 0.159 m³
- 1 bbl ≈ 5.615 ft³
The SI unit of volume, one thousand litres, used for bulk storage and metric oil accounting.
- 1 m³ ≈ 6.29 bbl
- 1 m³ = 1,000 L
- 1 m³ ≈ 264.2 US gal
- 10 m³ ≈ 62.9 bbl