ENERGY UNITS & CONVERSION TABLES

Energy units & conversion tables

Common units

Crude Oil and Natural Gas Liquids

AbbreviationDescription
bblbarrels
b/dbarrels per day
m3cubic metre
m3/dcubic metres per day
Mb/dthousands barrels per day
MMbmillion barrels
MMb/dmillion barrels per day

Electricity

AbbreviationDescription
MWmegawatt
kW.hkilowatt hour
MW.hmegawatt hour
GW.hgigawatt hour
TW.hterawatt hour

Natural Gas

AbbreviationDescription
Bcfbillion cubic feet
Bcf/dbillion cubic feet per day
Btu/cfBritish thermal units per cubic feet
cfcubic feet
m3cubic metre
m3/dcubic metres per day
Mcfthousand cubic feet
MMBtumillion British thermal units
MMcfmillion cubic feet
MMcf/dmillion cubic feet per day
Tcftrillion cubic feet

 

 

Common conversions

FromToMultiply by

metres (m)

feet

3.2808

kilometres (km)

miles

0.621

hectares (ha)

acres

2.471

kilograms (kg)

pounds

2.205

cubic metres (m3)

barrels (oil or natural gas liquids)

6.292

cubic metres (m3)

cubic feet of natural gas (@ 14.73 psia and 60oF)

35.301

litres (L)

US gallons

0.265

litres (L)

imperial gallons

0.220

imperial gallons

US gallons

1.201

barrels (bbl)

US gallons

42.0

barrels (bbl)

imperial gallons

34.972

metric tonnes (t)

pounds

2204.6

kilometers/litre

miles/gallon

2.825

gigajoules (GJ)

million British thermal units

0.95

 

Prefixes & Equivalents

Prefixe Equivalent to
k(kilo)103

M

(mega)

106

G

(giga)

109

T

(tera)

1012

P

(peta)

1015

E

(exa)

1018

Energy content

Energy

UnitEquivalent to

gigajoule (GJ)

109 joules

0.95 million Btu

0.95 thousand cubic feet of natural gas at 1000 Btu/cf

0.165 barrels of oil

0.28 megawatt hour of electricity

 Natural gas liquids

UnitEquivalent to

1 cubic metre (m3) (ethane)

18.36 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (propane)

25.53 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (butane)

28.62 GJ

Electricity

UnitEquivalent to

gigawatt hour (GW.h)

106 kW.h

3 600 GJ

0.0036 PJ

kilowatt hour (kW.h)

0.0036 GJ

megawatt hour (MW.h)

3.6 GJ

terawatt hour (TW.h)

109 kW.h

3.6 PJ

Crude oil

UnitEquivalent to

1 cubic metre (m3) (pentanes plus)

35.17 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (light)

38.51 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (heavy)

40.90 GJ

 Natural gas

UnitEquivalent to

thousand cubic feet (Mcf)

1.05 GJ

million cubic feet (MMcf)

1.05 TJ

billion cubic feet (Bcf)

1.05 PJ

trillion cubic feet (Tcf)

1.05 EJ

Coal

UnitEquivalent to

1 tonne (t) (anthracite)

27.70 GJ

1 tonne (t) (bituminous)

27.60 GJ

1 tonne (t) (lignite)

14.40 GJ

1 tonne (t) (subbituminous)

18.80 GJ

 

Petroleum products

UnitEquivalent to

1 cubic metre (m3) (asphalt)

44.46 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (aviation gasoline)

33.52 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (aviation turbo fuel)

35.93 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (diesel)

38.68 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (heavy fuel oil)

41.73 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (kerosene)

37.68 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (light fuel oil)

38.68 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (lubes and greases)

39.16 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (motor gasoline)

34.66 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (naphtha specialties)

35.17 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (petrochemical feedstock)

34.17 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (petroleum coke)

42.38 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (still gas)

41.73 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (other products)

39.82 GJ

Other fuels

UnitEquivalent to

1 cubic metre (m3) (ethanol)

23.60 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (hydrogen)

0.012 GJ

1 cubic metre (m3) (methanol)

15.60 GJ