Convert Barrel (Oil) (bbl (oil)) to Cubic Millimeter (mm³) instantly.
About these units
Barrel (Oil) (bbl (oil))
An oil barrel is defined as 42 US gallons, or 158.987 liters, and is a fundamental unit in the petroleum industry. This peculiar size traces back to the early Pennsylvania oil fields, where producers standardized whiskey barrels and modified wooden casks for oil transport. The need for consistent trade volumes cemented the 42-gallon barrel as the industry norm. Today, global oil production, pricing, and consumption are expressed in barrels—from daily OPEC reports to energy market forecasts. Even though oil is no longer physically shipped in barrels, the unit remains deeply embedded in international energy economics.
Cubic Millimeter (mm³)
A cubic millimeter is the volume of a cube exactly 1 millimeter on each side, equal to 10⁻⁹ cubic meters or 0.001 milliliters. It is a very small volume, frequently used in medical imaging, microfluidics, materials science, and cell biology. In anatomy and radiology, tissue or tumor volumes are often quantified in cubic millimeters to express small but clinically significant structures. In engineering, mm³ can describe the displacement of precision components or the volume of micro-machined cavities. Microfluidic research—where entire laboratories are miniaturized onto chips—depends heavily on mm³ and smaller units, as channels and chambers hold extremely tiny volumes. Its precision scale makes it invaluable for applications requiring meticulous material control.