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 liquid gallon is a unit of volume in the US customary unit system and uses the symbol gal.
It is the most common use of the word gallon and is defined as 231 in³. It is made up of 4 quarts where there are 2 pints in a quart and 16 US fluid ounces in a US pint. There are therefore 128 US fluid ounces in a US gallon.
The term gallon is most prevalent when discussing and trading oil and fuel. To ensure consistency, the temperature of the liquid (typically petroleum or alcohol) is understood to be 15.6 °C (60 °F) at the time of measurement.