Talk:bbl

Etymology

Several sources say that it stands for "blue barrel" the now-standard 42 gallon barrel produced by Standard Oil and colored such to distinguish it from other, different-sized barrels. But this page notes that the abbreviation is used much earlier than Standard Oil.

I have added the earliest printed use I could find, from 1815, well before SO. Also this use is "bbl." as singular and "bbls." as plural, which does not support another idea that the doubled b is for plural (as in pp for pages, vv for volumes, etc.). Rich Farmbrough, 16:57, 2 February 2023 (UTC).