The petroleum product market uses different units to measure the volume of petroleum products. In the U.S. markets for crude oil and petroleum products, barrels and gallons are the most common measurement units. European and Asian markets use liters, metric tons and cubic meters. Historically, this is the way it is, and there is nothing wrong with that.
In times of world globalization and openness of markets, units of measurement often begin to overlap and mix. For example, in the European and Asian markets, it has become the norm to sell aviation kerosene in American barrels. Conversely, the U.S. market is increasingly using metric tons for diesel fuel contracts.
When working in global markets for petroleum products, it is important to understand how many liters are in one metric ton or how many barrels are in one gallon. In this article we would like to provide conversion tables of the main conversion values in the petroleum products market – tons, liters, cubic meters, barrels and gallons, as well as provide basic density figures for the most common types of petroleum products. We hope that this article will be useful for all participants of the oil and oil products market, and will serve as a visual aid for working with their partners.
Crude oil measurement conversion table
This table is not absolutely accurate and is provided for general understanding of the conversion factors only. For the most detailed conversion factors, we recommend referring to scientific literature and specialized experts
1 barrel = 0.14 Tons
1 barrel = 159 Liters
1 barrel = 0.16 Cubic meters
1 Barrel = 42 American Gallons
1 Ton = 7.28 Barrels
1 ton = 1136 Liters
1 ton = 1136 Cubic Meters
1 ton = 748 American gallons
1000 Liters = 6.29 Barrels
1000 Liters = 0.88 Tons
1000 Liters = 1 Cubic Meters
1000 Liters = 264 American Gallons
1 m3 = 0.88 Tons
1 m3 = 1000 Liters
1 m3 = 6.28 Barrels
1 m3 = 264 American gallons
1 Gallon = 0.0013 Tons
1 gallon = 3.78 Liters
1 gallon = 0.024 Barrels
1 gallon = 0.0038 Cubic meters
The density factor of crude oil and petroleum products
Petroleum products change their density factor depending on the ambient temperature. For example, on a hot day, one ton of diesel or gasoline will have more liters than on a cold day. To standardize the measurement, world practice uses the calculation of the density factor of petroleum products at an average temperature of 20 degrees Celsius
Here are weighted average density coefficients of oil products at 20 C.
1) Crude oil. There is too much variation in the density coefficients of crude oil. This is due to the fact that crude oil is produced in different parts of the world, respectively it is absolutely different in density depending on the field, so we have put in a separate article density coefficients of crude oil. You can read this article at this link.
2) Diesel density factor (EN 590 10ppm):
In winter = 0.825 tons per m3
Summer = 0.835 tons per m3
3) Aviation kerosene density factor (Jet A1) = 0.77-0.78 tons per m3
4) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) density factor = 0.42 – 0.44 tons per m3
5) Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) density factor = 0.584 tons per m3
6) Fuel oil density factor = 0.89 tons per m3
7) Gasoline A-95 density factor = 0.755 tons per m3
8) Gasoline A-92 density factor = 0.745 tons per m3
9) A-80 gasoline density factor = 0.735 tons per m3
10) Density factor of motor oil = 0,89-0,91 tons per m3
We give as an example the basic, most common in the work of conversion of measures of petroleum products:
1) Diesel fuel (EN590 10ppm):
1 ton = 7.4 barrels
1 ton = 1.18 m3 (cubic meters)
1 ton = 1190 liters
1 ton = 314 gallons
2) Aviation Kerosene (Jet A1):
1 ton = 7.9 barrels
1 ton = 1.26 m3 (cubic meters)
1 ton = 1,280 liters
1 ton = 338 gallons
3) Gasoline:
1 ton = 8.4 barrels
1 ton = 1.34 m3 (cubic meters)
1 ton = 1370 liters
1 ton = 362 gallons
4) Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG):
1 ton = 11.6 barrels
1 ton = 1.84 m3 (cubic meters)
1 ton = 1,844 liters
1 ton = 487 gallons
5) Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG):
1 ton = 11 barrels
1 ton = 1.75 m3 (cubic meters)
1 ton = 1748 liters
1 ton = 462 gallons
6) High sulfur fuel oil:
1 ton = 6.4 barrels
1 ton = 1.02 m3 (cubic meters)
1 ton = 1123 liters
1 ton = 297 gallons
7) Motor oil:
1 ton = 7.1 barrels
1 ton = 1.13 m3 (cubic meters)
1 ton = 1,110 liters
1 ton = 293 gallons
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