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 cubic inch is a unit of volume derived from the imperial unit system and uses the symbol in³.
1 cubic inch is defined as equal to the volume of a cube with edges measuring 1 in. It is equivalent in volume to 16.387 ml, 1/231 US gallons and 1/1728 ft³.
Common uses for cubic inches include quantifying the size of electrical boxes and in the automotive industry for measuring engine displacement. The 5th generation Ford Mustang ran on a Boss 302 which was a 302 in³ engine (5.0L).