"bbl" for barrel?!

[Dreaded Claymore]

Why on Earth do I see people abbreviate the word "barrel" as "bbl?" "Barrel" has only one B.

Every time I see it, I hear "bubble" in my head, and that leads to ridiculous images, like an over-under shotgun with a 30-inch bubble.

Where the heck did this come from? How does it make sense?

[ke6guj]

http://seekingalpha.com/article/18636-where-does-that-2nd-b-in-the-abbreviation-for-crude-barrels-bbl-come-from

What are the origins of this mysterious "b"? The answer, courtesy of the Energy Information Administration :

In the early 1860's, when oil production began, there was no standard container for oil, so oil and petroleum products were stored and transported in barrels of all different shapes and sizes (beer barrels, fish barrels, molasses barrels, turpentine barrels, etc.). By the early 1870's, the 42-gallon barrel had been adopted as the standard for oil trade. This was 2 gallons per barrel more than the 40-gallon standard used by many other industries at the time. The extra 2 gallons was to allow for evaporation and leaking during tranport (most barrels were made of wood). Standard Oil began manufacturing 42 gallon barrels that were blue to be used for transporting petroleum. The use of a blue barrel, abbreviated "bbl," guaranteed a buyer that this was a 42-gallon barrel.

and apparantly, bbl became a common abbreviation for barrel in other industries as well.

[Citadelgrad87]

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1863...-bbl-come-from



and apparantly, bbl became a common abbreviation for barrel in other industries as well.

Perhaps because many gun barrels are...blued?

[wamphyri13]

Also a carry over from cars. A 4 barrel carburetor is known as a 4 bbl.
Ryan

[tonelar]

Perhaps because many gun barrels are...blued?

^- nice touch

[Dreaded Claymore]

Hooray!

[ir0nclash86]

cool. learn something new everyday.