Convert oil barrel to kiloliter

The oil barrel is 42 US gallons, 158.99 l, a size that goes back to the whisky and oil barrels of 1860s Pennsylvania. Crude oil is quoted per barrel (Brent, WTI) and production in barrels per day: the world produces about 100 million barrels a day, and a large tanker carries about 2 million. No physical barrels are involved; oil moves by pipeline and ship. A barrel of crude yields roughly 160 l of refined products in total, of which about 70–75 l is petrol.

A cubic metre is 1,000 litres, also called a kilolitre on Australian water bills. Water meters count in it: one person uses roughly 45–55 m³ a year. Gas meters count cubic metres too, and the bill converts them to kilowatt-hours at about 10–11 kWh per m³. Removals and freight think in cubic metres as well, a 20-foot container holding 33 m³ and a concrete mixer truck 8 m³. The hectolitre, 100 l, is the unit of brewers and winemakers: breweries report output in hl and vineyards their yields in hl per hectare.