Roll out the Barrel

A barrel of oil.

It is one of those much mentioned forms of unit measurement.

It features on the nightly news broadcasts whenever there is a crisis looming in the countries from where it is produced, or if a giant supertanker has become wedged on a reef and its contents are seeping out into the ocean.

It is a form of threat to dependent users with either over-supply or a choking off in the number of barrels in circulation.

It is a term very much in the public perception but just ask anyone to quantify it in common terms and misinformation, misinterpretation and mystery kick in to splendid extremes.

If it is any help in terms of visualisation, a barrel of oil is 42 gallons in the US measurement.

A volume of 42 gallons is still difficult to appreciate even if equated in terms of how much petrol, diesel oil or other petroleum based products it yields. Currently this is 19 gallons of petrol or 10 gallons of diesel with other by products as well. The refineries switch between the fuels dependent on demand and profitability. I can recall the days when diesel engined cars were rare and clunky with the high lead content petrol being dominant. Gradually the motorist was weaned off petrol with the enticement of cheaper diesel and more miles per gallon until firmly converted with, surprise, surprise a subsequent hike up in diesel fuel at the pumps.

One of the best illustrative guides to the quantity of a barrel of oil that I have come across relates to its equivalent power production.

For example, one barrel of oil provides a power output of 1.7 MegaWatt hours or reduced to laymans language it is the electricity used in 330 homes in the course of one hour.

The same power output by a human being on a bicycle pedalling at moderate speed would permit a distance of 33491 miles to be covered or one and a third laps around the equator.

On foot or in a gentle jogging mode the equivalent distance from Reykyavik to the South Pole and the long way around passing the North Pole would be acheivable or 14353 miles.

If tired of self propulsion then a popular form of transport, a motor scooter, on the same power trip would take you from New York to the tip of South Africa assuming a continuous land mass existed being a distance of 7891 miles.

In wanting a less sedantry form of two wheel motion or at least to have enough oomph to overtake something then on a 800cc motorbike a flit from London to Tehran would be a nice epic journey of 2702 miles.

Endurance swimmers are a bit of a breed apart and greased up and with someone looking out for person eating sharks, jellyfish, residues of an oil spill or a sewage plume a brave soul could expect to reach Dublin from New York (3168 miles).

Those wanting a four wheel road trip could use a large 3 litre diesel engined SUV to go from Rome to Copenhagen or in yer mams' citycar the range could be extended to drive the equivalent of that ultimate dream gap year experience across the US from Washington DC to Los Angeles.

The pattern as you can see if for an incremental increase in comfort of mode of transport and power output of the means of movement.

Take a tipper truck or fully loaded articulated lorry with you and you may only need one Yorkie Bar for the duration of London to Paris or Paris to Berne (in Switzerland).

Moving on to serious transport.

Imagine if you won a barrel of oil in a competition and could donate it towards a long haul flight to a destination of your choice. Well, by the time you had fastened your seat belt, put your tray in the upright position and mused the duty free card your 34 seconds of gifted travelling would be over. In air miles terms a paltry just over 5 miles covered.

That is not so bad when compared to a loaded container ship which if sponsored by you to the tune of a barrel of oil would travel only 3000 feet or roughly for modern vessels about three times its own bow to stern length.

A barrel of oil. Clearly, or not, a barrel of laughs.