Petroleum Intelligence Weekly's annual ranking of the world's 50 largest oil companies, a perennial benchmark survey recognized industry-wide, is the leading source of comparative performance assessments on all the world's oil companies. The Rankings are based on six operational criteria that allow the comparison of private sector and state-owned oil companies and is the precursor to the more comprehensive Energy Intelligence Top 100: Ranking The World's Oil Companies.
National Oil Companies Strengthen Their Hold in Annual Survey
In contrast to national oil companies, the major oil companies and other private sector firms generally lost ground, especially in the top tiers. In contrast to other super majors, Exxon Mobil held on to its number three position. A comparison with results from 10 years ago shows that the top major oil companies, as a group, now account for a smaller global share of the six ranking criteria than they did prior to the mega-mergers that created them.
Here are some key findings from the PIW Top 50:
· Saudi Aramco remains No. 1, and China's CNPC surpasses BP and Shell.
· Russia's Rosneft makes biggest jump, from 24th to 16th.
· Majority state-owned national oil companies now make up 27 of 50.
· Three new firms moved into the PIW Top 50 -- Uzbekneftegas, China's CNOOC and Kazmunaigas of Kazakhstan -- all majority state-owned.
The PIW Top 50 can only give you a glimpse of the performance of the world's key energy companies. You can find out exactly how your company, client or competitor ranks against industry peers with the Energy Intelligence Top 100: Ranking the World's Oil Companies.
This annual special report from Energy Intelligence Research provides a detailed picture of how the leading energy companies -- both publicly traded and state-owned firms -- have performed. With coverage of more than 160 operational and performance criteria for the 130 largest oil companies in the world, it allows you to assess operating strengths and weaknesses, set goals based on peer performance and identify your best-in-class competitors.
View Petroleum Intelligence Weekly Home Page
View the Energy Intelligence Top 100: Ranking the World's Oil Companies Home Page
PIW's Top 50: How the Firms Stack Up
Rank2007
Rank2006
PIWIndex
Company
Country
State Ownership %
1
30
Saudi Aramco
Saudi Arabia
100
2
33
NIOC
Iran
3
37
Exxon Mobil
US
4
5
51
PDV
Venezuela
7
53
CNPC
China
6
55
BP
UK
63
Shell
UK/Netherlands
8
83
ConocoPhillips
9
88
Chevron
10
90
Total
France
11
91
Pemex
Mexico
12
99
Sonatrach
Algeria
13
102
Gazprom
Russia
50.0023
14
103
KPC
Kuwait
15
111
Petrobras
Brazil
32.2
16
24
116
Rosneft
75.16
17
18
124
Petronas
Malaysia
126
Adnoc
UAE
Lukoil
20
19
141
NNPC
Nigeria
21
144
Eni
Italy
22
159
QP
Qatar
23
162
Libya NOC
Libya
166
INOC†
Iraq
25
29
173
Sinopec
71.84
26
28
176
StatoilHydro
Norway
62.5
27
177
EGPC
Egypt
180
Repsol YPF
Spain
187
Surgutneftegas
215
Pertamina
Indonesia
31
223
ONGC
India
74.14
32
34
246
Marathon
PDO
Oman
60
264
EnCana
Canada
--
Uzbekneftegas
Uzbekistan
36
273
Socar
Azerbaijan
35
288
SPC
Syria
38
39
290
Ecopetrol
Colombia
89.9
42
291
Apache
44
CNR
41
294
Anadarko
296
Devon Energy
43
40
297
TNK-BP‡
298
OMV
Austria
31.5
45
48
305
Hess
46
310
Occidental
47
312
BG
316
CNOOC
66.41
49
50
322
Inpex
Japan
29.35
52
323
Kazmunaigas
Kazakhstan
Methodology of PIW Ranks the World's Top Oil Companies
Contact us for more information
Click here to preview the December 01, 2008 press release: Energy Intelligence Ranks World's 50 Top Oil Companies in Benchmark Survey
PIW's ranking of the world's 50 largest oil companies is based on operational data from over 130 firms. The focus on operations allows meaningful comparisons of all types of companies -- including state-owned firms -- and thus differs from more financially oriented corporate rankings. PIW's unique system uses as criteria oil reserves and production, natural gas reserves and output, refinery capacity, and product sales volumes.
Firms are compared in six different operational areas in the table below, with companies assigned a separate rank within each category. The six individual ranks are then added together to determine the cumulative, overall position, giving each of the six criteria an equal weighting.
The rankings above are based on the 2007 operational results for the companies as they existed at the end of that year or as they reported them. Estimates are used mainly for state-owned oil companies that do not release regular or complete annual reports in a timely fashion. Some numbers reflect estimates when complete corporate data are not available. PIW's system of ranking tends to favor national oil companies with large oil and gas reserves, and to favor integrated concerns over firms that specialize in one industry sector.
To round out the picture, basic financial data are provided for the companies. But these data are not used to create the PIW Top 50 rankings, since they are based on widely differing accounting practices.
Data in the tables above are primarily from company sources and annual reports. In some cases, secondary sources or PIW estimates have been used to fill in the gaps. Data are usually shown as reported by the companies but are sometimes adjusted for interests or shares held by others. Data for the Russian and Caspian firms are drawn from Energy Intelligence Research's 2008, Almanac of Russian & Caspian Petroleum.