How many liters are in a US oil barrel?

Exactly 158.987295 liters. One US oil barrel equals 42 US liquid gallons, which is the standard unit used worldwide in the petroleum industry.

What is the difference between a US oil barrel and a US liquid barrel?

A US oil barrel holds 42 US gallons (158.987 L). A US liquid barrel holds 31.5 US gallons (119.240 L). The liquid barrel is used for non-petroleum commodities like beer and cranberries.

A UK (imperial) barrel equals 36 imperial gallons, or approximately 163.659 liters. It is rarely used in modern trade but still appears in some historical and UK-specific contexts.

Is the barrel unit the same worldwide?

No. The US oil barrel (42 US gal), US liquid barrel (31.5 US gal), and UK barrel (36 imperial gal) are the three most common definitions. Always confirm which barrel type is intended in a document.

How do I convert barrels back to liters?

Multiply: US oil barrels × 158.987295, US liquid barrels × 119.240471, or UK barrels × 163.659240 to get liters.

Liters to Barrels Converter

Enter a volume in liters and get the equivalent in US oil barrels, US liquid barrels, and UK barrels.

Volume in Liters

Liters (L)

Quick presets

US Oil Barrel (bbl)

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1 L = 0.00628981 bbl · 42 US gallons per barrel

US Liquid Barrel

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1 L = 0.00838641 liquid bbl · 31.5 US gallons per barrel

UK Barrel (imperial)

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1 L = 0.00610237 UK bbl · 36 imperial gallons per barrel

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Conversion reference

Liters	US Oil bbl	US Liquid bbl	UK bbl

Summary

Enter a volume in liters and get the equivalent in US oil barrels, US liquid barrels, and UK barrels.

How it works

Enter a volume in liters in the input field.
The tool divides the value by 158.987295 to get US oil barrels.
It also divides by 119.240471 for US liquid barrels and by 163.659240 for UK barrels.
All three results update instantly as you type.
Click a preset button to load a common volume.
Use a Copy button to copy any result to your clipboard.

Use cases

Convert crude oil tank volumes from liters to the standard petroleum barrel unit.
Translate refinery throughput figures from metric liters to barrels per day.
Convert storage tank capacities between metric and barrel units for US markets.
Verify barrel equivalents when reading international energy statistics.
Compare fuel quantities across countries that use different barrel definitions.
Convert brewery or winery batch sizes from liters to US liquid barrels.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-09-14 · Reviewed by Nham Vu