How much energy is in a barrel of oil?

In The World in 2050, Laurence C Smith states that

Packed inside a single barrel of oil is about the same amount of energy as would be produced from eight years of day labour by an average sized man.

As at 30th Jan, the spot price for a barrel of Brent Crude Oil is $98.75, which in pounds is £62.23.

The minimum wage for someone over 21 in the UK is £5.93. Eight years of day labour, full time, at that rate would earn you:

£5.93/hour x 37 hours/week x 52 weeks = £91,274.56

So if all you need is energy, it is 1,467 times cheaper to use oil than muscle.

Sports Report

Yesterday evening a match of Association Football was undertaken between eleven gentlemen representing the United States of America and eleven gentlemen representing England.  Both sets of gentlemen each scored one goal.

Scurrilous rumours that the company formerly known as British Petroleum had, on behalf of the English gentlemen, attempted to sap American morale by deliberately spilling considerable quantities of oil on large stretches of American coastline were unfounded.