bbl

Definition

Abbreviation of barrels and occasionally also of barrel (singular).

Etymology

Often thought to be modified from bl for barrel (b⸺l), reflecting a way of abbreviating that was used especially in previous centuries (compare do for ditto), wherein a doubled letter indicated plural count, as also with p.=page but pp.=pages and l.=line but ll.=lines; this method was used not only in English but also in scholarly New Latin and other modern languages heavily affected thereby, such as with Spanish EE. UU. According to this idea, addition of the suffix -s, as sometimes seen (e.g., 5 bbls or 5 bbls.), would seem to have come from writers who left the unit abbreviation itself unanalyzed (unparsed), thus adding a venially redundant marker of plural, somewhat like with MPGs for miles per gallon.

Example Sentences

• "measured in 1000-bbl units"
• "At present prices, cylindrical steel tankage in 55,000-bbl. units costs approximately 73c. per barrel storage."
• "The overflush consisted of 100 bbls of uncrosslinked 3000 ppm polymer, followed by one wellbore volume (~150 bbls) plus 450 bbls crude behind pipe."