The Spectator

Barometer | 21 January 2016

Plus: how many police are armed, and how much we spend on furniture

issue 23 January 2016

Roll out the barrel

The price of crude oil dropped below $30 a barrel. Why do we measure it in barrels?
— A standard barrel for the purposes of measuring oil is 42 US gallons or 35 imperial gallons. This was the size of a ‘tierce’, a unit for measuring wine in medieval England.

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