Energy Intelligence Ranks the World's Top 50 Oil Companies

摘要

The oil and gas industry is cyclical,but history may find that 2019 was the calm before the storm.The latest Energy Intelligence Top 50 reflects an industry on the cusp of transformational change.Companies have understood for some time that the low-carbon energy transition was inevitable but had no idea just how much the tectonic impact of the twin Covid-19 pandemic and oil market crisis of 2020 would accelerate that change.Such forces will take time to affect the rankings but over time they are sure to influence the operations and strategies of oil companies across the board.For now,top 10 membership remains unchanged:Saudi Aramco,National Iranian Oil Co.(NIOC),China National Petroleum Corp.(CNPC),Exxon Mobil,BP,Rosneft,Royal Dutch Shell,Petroleos de Venezuela(PDVSA),Gazprom and Total.National oil company performance was mixed as pressure on several of these companies,which was evident in the last edition,continues(PIW Nov.22'19).Aramco,which completed an initial public offering in late 2019 that confirmed its massive reserves,remains remarkably stable in the top spot-even as it continues to lead Opec-plus market management(PIW Nov.15'19).The company has been building its downstream segment,however,with acquisitions and consolidation of refinery ownership boosting its operational footprint.In Iran,US sanctions,as expected,have throttled NIOC's oil production.But downstream operations remain resilient.The same can be said for PDVSA,which,despite the slow burn of Venezuela's economic meltdown,retains a robust downstream-for now.But this has not been enough to keep the company from declining two spots to an all-time low of No.8 as its oil output implodes.