The barrel is a unit of volume used in the oil industry with the symbol bbl.
Oil is more commonly expressed in terms of cubic metres (m³) but in the US and in the economic world (mainly because such a large percentage of the world's oil is shipped to the US) as barrels.
The measurement of the barrel originated in the US at the first oil well in Pennsylvania. There were so many variants of barrel size (including those used for wine and other goods) that the distrust became so prevalent a central and standard barrel size was created. This was finally established in 1872 as 42 US gallons.
The US dry gallon is a unit of volume in the US customary unit system with the symbol dry gal.
The dry gallon is equal to 268.8025 in³ or 4.404 L.
The US dry gallon is not used anywhere any more - the unit below is the dry pint and the unit above is the bushel.