Why are crude oil exports measured in barrels instead of tons? How much does a bucket weigh?

Seeing this topic, the first reflection is the joke that barrels are expensive: in 2008, when the international oil price 140 USD/barrel, the domestic oil price increased in 6 yuan, and in 20 18, when the international oil price was less than 80 USD/barrel, the domestic oil price increased in 7 yuan, because barrels were expensive. But the joke is a joke after all, because the current crude oil export is not packed in barrels at all. On land, it is usually transported by oil pipeline, and instruments are directly set at the entrance and exit (for example, the Sino-Russian crude oil pipeline is transported from Skovorodino Offtake Station of Russian Far East Pipeline via Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China to the anniversary oilfield); For example, the unconnected oil imported from Saudi Arabia is directly transported to the port of our country by tanker, not by barrel as we thought, so there is no concept that oil barrels affect oil prices at present.

In reality, we usually measure by weight or volume, and seldom by barrel, so why should crude oil be measured by barrel? This is actually a habit. Because in the early days, Americans used barrels to measure oil. In Pennsylvania, the birthplace of modern petroleum industry, 1859, after drax pumped oil with mechanical wells, people hurriedly filled oil directly with various barrels. However, messy weights and measures not only bring troubles to buyers, but also become troubles for government legislation and taxation. According to the general law, when the industry develops to a considerable extent, it is imperative to unify the standards. So in the end, the Americans formulated a 42-gallon bucket with an empty weight of 64 pounds, which became the standard (mainly a bucket of this size) and was suitable for being put on a flat train. At that time, a train could just hold 20 barrels, and then it was pulled to the port and transported to various places. With the development of technology, although pipeline transportation and tanker transportation have been born successively, Americans are still used to measuring by barrels out of habit.

If the United States is not the largest country in the world, then barrel measurement will only be in the United States, because many other countries do not use barrel measurement in the subsequent development. For example, the crude oil futures of Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan are still priced according to the international unit kilogram, but after World War II, with the rise of the United States, the US dollar became the world currency, the United States controlled the world's major crude oil exports, and other countries in the world were gradually forced to accept crude oil with barrels as the unit of measurement.

Current standard 1 American barrel =42 American gallon = 158.98 liters; As for the weight? This is not necessarily true, because the density and quality of oil in different producing areas are different, so the weight will also be biased under the same volume; At present, the average weight of a barrel of oil is about 0. 137 tons, which means that 1 ton of oil needs about 7 barrels of oil.

Why should crude oil exports be calculated in barrels instead of tons? China crude oil is measured in tons. Therefore, for the west, the unit of measurement of oil in western countries is barrel. So, why is this happening?

In fact, I personally think: for westerners, there are two main reasons for using "barrels" to calculate crude oil exports:

First of all, I personally think that the reason why oil is measured in barrels is because China imports a large amount of oil, which is currently in the hands of western countries such as Europe and America. Therefore, in order to facilitate their measurement units and conform to their trading habits, they stipulate that crude oil is barrels, not tons.

Let's analyze it again. Tons are units of mass and barrels are unit of volume. Then, as we all know, the oil density of different producing areas is different, and the weight of each barrel of oil is also different. Just like when we were in the Qing Dynasty, the purity of silver traded by Shanxi merchants was 99%. However, people in Lingnan area, that is, now Fujian area, may only use about 97% of pure waste silver.

In addition, because it is the original density, if calculated in tons, its quality may have some errors. But if calculated in barrels, we all know that there is a conversion formula for density, so we don't need to explain it here.

In a word, the unit of barrel is unit of volume, and there is a complicated conversion relationship between quality unit and unit of volume. Some of them have different oil densities in different producing areas, so barrels are used as measuring units for convenience.

That is to say, there is a unit of volume as the unit of measurement for crude oil trading because it is the quality of a barrel of oil, and the different quality and volume are different because of the different density, but its volume is the same.

Because we all know that crude oil is in the hands of Americans. During World War II, the unit of measurement of oil was not "barrel" according to the international conversion unit, and the Soviet Union used "ton" to measure it. But for the convenience of oil trading, transportation and trading, Americans used "barrels" as the unit of measurement at that time.

Therefore, as a unit of measurement, the barrel is customary.

In the eyes of China people, it is more convenient to calculate crude oil in barrels, but why should it be calculated in barrels?

In fact, to put it bluntly, as a unit of measurement, barrels are very beneficial to oil trade transactions, because barrels, like commodity containers, can be dispatched on a large scale between sea areas and land transportation, and calculation and sales are very convenient. If the workload "barrel" is taken as the unit of measurement, the transaction difficulty is greatly increased due to different densities.

This is so much fun! Why is crude oil uniformly measured in "barrels"? And gasoline is usually measured in liters?

Everything comes from customary practices!

oz； The unit of weight of gold (1 ounce = 28.3495g). Most people are familiar with the concept of grams and unfamiliar with ounces, but gold players will not be confused.

Carat; Diamond weight unit (1 carat = 0.25g). Many people mistakenly think that carat is the unit for calculating the size (volume) of diamonds. But diamond players don't get confused.

Foot; Unit of length, one foot = 30.48 cm. (It is said that; /kloc-At the beginning of the 0/3rd century, the size of Britain was chaotic and trade disputes continued. King John of England called ministers to discuss how long a foot should be. Didn't pull out the results. King John stamped his foot angrily and said, pointing to his footprints; "This is a foot", so the length of the foot is determined.

English code; Unit of length, one yard = 9 1.44 cm = 3 feet (it is said that the determination of the length of one yard is similar to that of one foot. King Henry stretched out his arm and gave a thumbs up, saying that the distance from the tip of the nose to the tip of the thumb was one yard! So the ministers quickly and carefully weighed and decided)

Meter (meter); French drama. The French Academy of Sciences stipulates that one tenth of the meridian length from the North Pole to the Equator is 1 m, and 1799 was legally used in France. It laid the foundation for today's international length metric system (decimal system).

Kilogram (kg); French drama. France defines the length of "meter" and decimeter according to "decimal system". France stipulates that the mass of 1 cubic decimeter of pure water is 1 kg at 4℃. A cylinder with a height of 39 mm and a diameter of 39 mm is made of platinum-iridium alloy to represent this mass. This "metal pimple" is also the benchmark of kilograms (kilograms).

This is the American way of playing. Since the United States controls the world crude oil trade, it has become a common practice to measure crude oil in barrels.

For example; When you buy a ship of crude oil, the volume of the ship's oil bunker is fixed. Fill it in one breath, and you will know how many cubic meters the volume is and how many barrels it can be quickly converted into. If you want to actually measure what it is, it is more complicated.

1 liter The average weight of 90 # gasoline is 0.72kg92 and that of 92 # gasoline is 0.73kg; Size 97, 0.737 kg. It seems that the price is still proportional to the weight.

Everyone is puzzled when they see this problem. I'll answer it for you today, hoping to help you.

Each barrel is the most important unit of crude oil futures pricing, such as Brent, WTI and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries refer to a basket of crude oil. The delivery volume of the three futures contracts accounts for almost all of the global share. Of course, there are also some regional crude oil futures that are not priced by barrels. For example, the crude oil futures of Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan are priced in kilograms of international units, but the trading volume cannot be compared with the first three. So what I want to say here is that the pricing of crude oil by barrel is not an international mandatory requirement, but it is an established standard.

The biggest misunderstanding is that some people think that the physical transaction of crude oil is based on barrels, which is the biggest misunderstanding. At present, crude oil is mainly transported by pipeline, from oil fields to refineries or export ports;

In oil exploitation, the earliest tool for loading oil is barrel. But at that time, the bucket was just a tool, not used to measure the volume. Later, over time, everyone gradually formed the habit of loading oil in wooden barrels. The initial oil transaction was also calculated in barrels, and gradually barrels became the universally accepted unit of oil measurement in the world.

Of course, all countries in the world use barrels as the unit for measuring oil. China is an exception, with tons. When the official release of relevant data, it also uses tons as the unit. For example, China imported 46 1.9 million tons of crude oil last year.

It is not easy for ordinary people to accurately remember 1 American barrel =42 American gallon = 158.98 liters, because the average weight of a barrel of crude oil is 0. 137 tons. Even countries like the former Soviet Union and China, which are used to measuring crude oil by metric tons, have to succumb to the strong tradition of "American barrel-making" when participating in international transactions. The density of crude oil produced in different regions is different. For example, the crude oil produced in Daqing Oilfield in China is 7.3 1 barrel per ton, while the crude oil density in Shengli Oilfield is relatively high, and 6.93 barrels can reach one ton.

At this point, you should understand.

Commentator Han Xiao; Generally, a barrel of crude oil in the Middle East is about 42 US gallons or 35 British gallons, or 65,438+058.9 liters. And 1 ton crude oil is about 7.35 barrels. Barrel is the unit of oil measurement in western countries. Buckets not only facilitate oil transportation, but also facilitate oil trading, so they are widely accepted.

First of all, we should make it clear that the ton is the unit of mass and the barrel is the unit of volume, just like the container. Because of the different density of oil from different producing areas, the weight of oil per barrel is also different. .

In order to facilitate transportation, the United States uses "barrels" as the unit. At the beginning, oil was really transported in barrels, and oil barrels became the unit of measurement of American oil.

After World War II, the United States became the world's largest oil importer and one of the top ten oil exporters. Oil trade was directly linked to the US dollar, and oil prices were also manipulated by Wall Street. Other countries were forced to accept the unit of "oil drums".

Many people think that in the era of global trade, it is very beneficial to use "oil drums" as the unit of measurement for oil trade. Because oil drums, like commodity containers, can be dispatched between sea areas and land transportation on a large scale, and it is also convenient for calculation and sales.

But in fact, oil is no longer transported in barrels. Now oil is transported directly from the place of origin to the port for loading, then to the destination port, and then to the oil storage tank through the pipeline. Usually, you can often see some tanker trucks carrying oil on the road, but you have never seen big trucks pulling oil drums for transportation.

Text/drifting Atlantis

This problem is relatively common, and I happen to be in this industry, so I will explain it to you here. Before answering this question, clarify a few questions or misunderstand.

Having said these two questions, let's take a look at why the import and export of crude oil should be priced in barrels. In fact, it is not only import and export, but also the output of oil fields in North America is in barrels.

It was the United States, specifically Pennsylvania, that first began to use barrels to measure crude oil. 1859, the first oil well in the United States was completed in Pennsylvania, followed by the oil exploitation boom in 19.

At that time, the output of crude oil was increasing, but there was no standard container to hold crude oil, because the oil industry in the United States had just started. So oil miners at that time used barrels filled with other products to hold oil. These barrels come in different shapes and sizes and have different uses. There are wine barrels, fish barrels, and barrels filled with syrup and turpentine, in short. The capacity of barrels was also different, which brought great trouble to crude oil trading at that time, because it was difficult to measure and caused many disputes.

By 1866, Pennsylvania oil producers noticed this problem and began to implement unified standards. Finally, they turned their attention to whisky barrels and decided to use whisky barrels as the unit of measurement for crude oil trading. The capacity of whisky barrel is 40 gallons (15 1 liter), but in order to benefit the seller (because there will be losses during transportation in the barrel), that is, the oil producer, they decided to increase the pricing capacity by 2 gallons (the actual oil volume is still 40 gallons), which means the final pricing capacity is 42 gallons (159 liters). In the end, 1872 adopted this standard, and one barrel was equal to 42 gallons, which became the basic unit of crude oil measurement in the United States.

The rise of crude oil in the international "barrel" unit of measurement is synchronized with the rise of the status of the US dollar. Crude oil is one of the few commodities with international unified pricing in the world, which is denominated in US dollars. This is of course related to the strength of the American country and the oil industry. At present, most of the standards and technologies in the oil industry come from the United States, which is the largest oil consumer in the world and certainly has a strong voice. Of course, more importantly, the US dollar, as a global reserve currency, has incomparable stability and credibility with other currencies. Everyone knows that countries like the United States have extremely low bankruptcy rates and stable currencies. Therefore, it is natural for crude oil to be denominated in dollars, and the United States has also introduced its own oil industry standards by the way.

As mentioned above, a standard barrel of crude oil is equal to 42 US gallons, which is about 159 liters. It's just volume. But the weight of a barrel of crude oil with different qualities is different. High quality crude oil, that is to say, light crude oil is lighter than heavy oil (high density) because of its low density.

The density of crude oil is 0.87 ~ >; 1.0 g/cm3, so a ton of crude oil is about 7.2~7.35 barrels.

The measurement of crude oil in barrels first began in the United States, because of the influence of the United States, barrels do not need tons. The dollar valuation of crude oil has also promoted the implementation of this standard on a global scale.

The main crude oil futures trading is based on barrels.

A standard barrel of crude oil is equal to 42 US gallons, about 159 liters;

According to the density of crude oil, a ton of crude oil is about 7.2~7.35 barrels, that is, 1 barrel of crude oil equals 136 ~ 138 kg.

Crude oil is one of the few commodities in the world with unified international pricing, which means that any country in the world will face unified standards as long as you buy oil in the international market.

I'm drifting in Atlantis. See you next time!

This is the preconceived measure of western countries. The capacity of a barrel is 53 gallons, and a gallon is 4.546 liters. If water is included, it is 240 kilograms. Oil is lighter than water. This is the specific gravity. The proportion of inferior oil is above 0.8, such as some domestic and Venezuelan oils, and the proportion of the best oil produced in the Middle East is below 0.8. People joke that the oil mined there can be directly added to the fuel tank. It is precisely because of the different specific gravity that liquids should be calculated by volume. In the early days, oil was mined in vats, and this habit has continued.

"Oil drum" is the crude oil measurement unit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Europe and America and other western countries, and it is also the mainstream oil measurement unit in the world.

First of all, we should make it clear that the ton is the unit of mass and the barrel is the unit of volume, just like the container. Because of the different density of oil from different producing areas, the weight of oil per barrel is also different. Generally, a barrel of crude oil in the Middle East is about 42 US gallons or 35 British gallons, or 65,438+058.9 liters. And 1 ton crude oil is about 7.35 barrels. At present, NYSE generally uses Brent crude oil in the North Sea and Texas light crude oil as the standard to calculate the price of a barrel of oil.

The western world used wooden barrels to transport wine thousands of years ago. In fact, at the beginning, people in the Middle East used clay pots to hold wine, but the sealing of clay pots was not good. Except for China, other ethnic groups don't make porcelain, even if they make porcelain, porcelain pots are too fragile, so ethnic groups in the Middle East use wooden barrels to store and transport wine.

Because wooden barrels are cylindrical and easy to transport, more and more liquid commodities are transported in wooden barrels, such as olive oil. Later, after the discovery of oil, people began to fill oil in iron drums.

The first country to fill oil in iron drums was the United States. Before World War II, the unit of measurement of oil was not uniform. The United States uses barrels to measure oil, and the Soviet Union uses tons of oil.

In order to facilitate transportation, the United States uses "barrels" as the unit. At the beginning, oil was really transported in barrels, and oil barrels became the unit of measurement of American oil.

After World War II, the United States became the world's largest oil importer and one of the top ten oil exporters. Oil trade was directly linked to the US dollar, and oil prices were also manipulated by Wall Street. Other countries were forced to accept the unit of "oil drums".

Many people think that in the era of global trade, it is very beneficial to use "oil drums" as the unit of measurement for oil trade. Because oil drums, like commodity containers, can be dispatched between sea areas and land transportation on a large scale, and it is also convenient for calculation and sales.

But in fact, oil is no longer transported in barrels. Now oil is transported directly from the place of origin to the port for loading, then to the destination port, and then to the oil storage tank through the pipeline. You can often see some tankers carrying oil on the road, but you have never seen big trucks pulling oil drums. Today's tankers no longer transport oil in drums.

The liquefied weather, gasoline and diesel we use every day are transported by this tanker.

See this and think of a joke:

Why has the international oil price been in a downward trend, while the domestic oil price has been rising instead of falling with the international oil price, and once reached 7 yuan per liter? The reason is: oil prices have indeed fallen, but the price of oil drums has gone up.

For a long time, the total settlement of international trade or domestic commodities has been based on tons, liters and cubic meters (mainly natural gas).

, kg, everyone can have a clear concept of the weight of goods, but only oil must be settled in barrels. If you are not a professional, you have no idea how big a barrel is, what material it is made of, and how much it weighs.

Then why do oil exports have to be measured in barrels?

19 At the end of the 20th century, oil resources were gradually discovered and used, and a large number of capitalists increased oil exploitation. However, after oil exploitation, there is no suitable container to contain these easily leaked liquids. It happens that European and American countries have the habit of drinking wine, just like the jars in China. A large number of wooden barrels are made of local materials, which are the most suitable containers for oil. Later, after continuous improvement, iron barrels were used instead of wooden barrels that were easily damaged during transportation and took a long time to manufacture. In this way, the tradition of holding oil in barrels continued.

How much does that barrel of oil weigh?

International crude oil transactions are based on barrels, while the measurement of refined oil products used by ordinary consumers is based on liters. "American barrel" is a kind of unit of volume, which is not compatible with metric tons and cubic meters, and is not compatible with metric tons and other weight units. It is not easy for ordinary people to accurately remember 1 American barrel =42 American gallon = 158.98 liters, because the average weight of a barrel of crude oil is 0. 137 tons. Even countries like the former Soviet Union and China, which are used to measuring crude oil by metric tons, have to succumb to the strong tradition of "American barrel-making" when participating in international transactions.

However, using barrels as the unit of measurement for crude oil has some disadvantages:

The density of crude oil produced in different regions is different. For example, the crude oil produced in Daqing Oilfield in China is 7.3 1 barrel per ton, while the crude oil density in Shengli Oilfield is relatively high, and 6.93 barrels can reach one ton.

Petroleum is a kind of hydrocarbon, which is mainly composed of a variety of heavy metals and exists in a viscous liquid state at room temperature. After processing, it can be divided into light oil and heavy oil according to its boiling point and specific gravity, ignition point and calorific value. It has become an important fuel, explosive additive, catalyst, preservative, heat insulation material, lubricating oil and so on in modern industry, national defense, automobiles, trains, ships and airplanes.

It is also an indispensable necessity in modern social life. Such as all kinds of plastic products, all kinds of chemicals, all kinds of fertilizers, pesticides, pesticides, disinfectants and so on. Nowadays, all countries in the world have listed oil as an important national strategic energy material and strictly controlled it.

Crude oil exports are calculated in barrels, which is not only convenient and concise, but also mainly for the accuracy of transactions and minimizing errors and losses. Because this is an international practice, I know it.

Due to the different specific gravity of crude oil, the weight range of a barrel of crude oil is about 138~ 148kg. A ton of oil should be 1000kg according to the concept of ordinary people. But the actual calculation is as follows: the specific gravity is between 860 and 880 kg, and the bulk density is 1000 cubic unit. People who like it can check the book "China Petroleum Products Standard Specification".