Published on 31st December 2022
Oil still makes up a significant share of the global energy mix. Big Oil is often used to describe the largest and most influential oil and natural gas producers in the world, including BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies. These oil majors or supermajors operate upstream, midstream, and downstream.
A dramatic fall in oil prices in the 1990s caused a flurry of M&A activity in the O&G industry. Over time, these giant corporations dominated the global petroleum industry with major control over worldwide gas and oil reserves.
Keep reading to learn more about the leading oil industry companies globally.
Oil companies are generally ranked by various parameters, such as market capitalization (market cap), crude oil production, oil reserves, and revenue.
Here are the top 10 oil and gas companies in the world (listed by revenue):
Founded: 1933
Location: Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Revenue: USD 590.3 billion
Also known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil company by revenue. It is also the biggest oil-producing company in the Middle East. The colossal integrated O&G company has targeted innovation hubs in Asia, Europe, and the United States.
Known as one of the most profitable companies globally, Saudi Aramco commenced its first commercial oil production in 1938 following a concession agreement between the Saudi Arabian government and the Standard Oil Company of California in 1933.
Over the decades, it expanded its distribution pipeline and forged alliances and partnership deals apart from investing heavily in R&D for manufacturing non-metallic and crude-to-chemicals products.
Founded: 2000
Location: Beijing, China
Revenue: USD 486.8 billion
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. is among the world’s largest oil refining, gas, and petrochemical companies. Its oil and gas business focuses on the following:
The company is well known as a producer and distributor of a variety of petrochemical and petroleum products, including diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, chemical fertilizers, and synthetic rubbers and resins.
Founded: 1999
Location: Beijing, China
Revenue: USD 486.4 billion
PetroChina is the publicly listed unit (a subsidiary) of China National Petroleum Corporation and the largest oil and gas producer and distributor in China.
PetroChina accounts for a majority of China’s domestic oil (50%) and gas (60%) production volume. The company’s business segments include:
Exploration and production: Exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas.
Refining and chemicals: Refining of crude oil and petroleum products as well as production and marketing of primary and derivate petrochemical products and other chemical products.
Marketing: Trading business and marketing refined products.
Natural gas and pipeline: Transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products.
Head office and other: The corporate center, cash management and financing activities, R&D, and other business services.
Founded: 1882
Location: Irving, Texas, United States
Revenue: USD 386.8 billion
ExxonMobil specializes in exploration, development, and distribution of oil, gas, and petroleum products.
The company is one of top Delaware Basin operators and also ranks high among top producers by BOE (barrel of oil equivalent) production in the Central Basin Platform.
Apart from exploring oil and natural gas on six continents, it operates facilities globally under three segments:
Furthermore, the company markets chemicals, fuels, and lubricants under the brands known as Esso, Exxon, ExxonMobil, and Mobil.
Founded: 1907
Location: London, United Kingdom
Revenue: USD 365.3 billion
Shell is an international energy company with expertise in the exploration, production, refining, and marketing of oil and natural gas. Located in over 50 countries, the company also manufactures and markets chemicals.
In 1907, the Royal Dutch Shell Group was formed as a result of a merger between Shell Transport and Trading Company and Royal Dutch.
However, the nearly century-old partnership was dissolved in 2005 with Shell unifying its corporate structure under a single new holding company—Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Over the years, the Group’s name came to be known as Shell.
The company’s business segments include:
Integrated gas: Includes conversion of natural gas into gas-to-liquid fuels and other products, liquefied natural gas, and new energies portfolio.
Upstream: Exploration and extraction of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs).
Oil products: Covers refining, trading, and marketing.
Chemicals: This segment manages manufacturing plants and the marketing network.
Corporate: Includes headquarters and central functions, holdings and treasury, and self-insurance activities.
Founded: 1924
Location: Courbevoie, France
Revenue: USD 254.7 billion
TotalEnergies owns and operates gas stations throughout Africa, Europe, and the United States. The company explores and produces crude oil, low-carbon electricity, and natural gas in addition to refining and producing petrochemical products.
The company’s business segments include:
Exploration and production: Includes oil and natural gas exploration and production activities.
Integrated gas, renewables, and power: This segment consists of integrated gas and low-carbon electricity businesses and upstream and midstream LNG activities.
Refining and chemicals: Encompasses activities related to marine shipping, oil supply, petrochemicals, refining, specialty chemicals, and trading.
Marketing and services: Focuses on the global supply and marketing of petroleum products.
Founded: 1906
Location: San Ramon, CA
Revenue: USD 227.1 billion
Chevron Corporation is one of the largest oil and natural gas producers in the Permian Basin. Originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California, Chevron is an integrated oil company with the following operations:
Upstream: This division is concerned with activities, such as:
Downstream: This division covers activities, such as:
In addition, Chevron handles chemical and mining operations and non-energy activities like financial management and technology development.
Founded: 1909
Location: London, United Kingdom
Revenue: USD 222.7 billion
BP is a British oil company specializing in oil and petrochemical exploration, production, and supply. It was formerly known as “The British Petroleum Company PLC” and “BP Amoco PLC.”
The company refines and sells petroleum products, such as acetic acid, ethylene, polyethylene, and terephthalic acid. Amoco, Aral, and Castrol are well known BP brands.
The integrated oil and gas company’s business segments include:
Upstream: Includes oil and natural gas exploration, field development and production.
Downstream: This segment focuses on refining, manufacturing, marketing, transporting, supplying, and trading crude oil, petroleum, petrochemical products and related services to retail and wholesale customers.
Founded: 1887
Location: Findlay, Ohio, United States
Revenue: USD 173 billion
Marathon is an independent company whose expertise lies in refining, marketing, and transporting petroleum products. Originally, it was a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil.
The company is an owner or a leaseholder of several miles of petroleum pipelines and has branded locations across the U.S., including Marathon brand retail outlets.
The company’s business segments consist of the following:
Refining and marketing: This segment focuses on refining crude oil and other feedstocks at the company’s refineries in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions of the U.S.
Moreover, the segment includes purchasing ethanol and refined products for resale and distributing refined products through company owned or operated means of transport, such as barges, trucks, and terminals.
Midstream: This segment deals with transporting, storing, distributing, and marketing crude oil and refined products via refining logistics assets, barges, pipelines, terminals, and towboats.
Furthermore, the segment covers natural gas (gathering, processing, and transporting) and NGLs (gathering, transporting, fractionating, storing, and marketing).
Founded: 1980
Location: San Antonio, Texas, United States
Revenue: USD 170.5 billion
Valero is the world’s largest independent petroleum refiner. Valero’s Diamond Green Diesel joint venture is also the world’s second-largest producer of sustainable renewable diesel.
The company hosts 15 refineries in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States in addition to 33 wind turbines in the United States. Its expertise includes manufacturing and marketing transportation fuels and other petrochemical products.
The company’s business segments comprise the following:
Refining and ethanol: This segment encompasses refining and ethanol operations and related logistics assets as well as associated marketing activities.
Renewable diesel: This segment covers the Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC operations.
Blackridge Research & Consulting’s Global Oil and Gas Market Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the oil and gas market, including competitive landscape, current scenario, key company profiles, market outlook, recent developments, and more.
The regional market analysis covers countries under Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America as well as rest of the world.
The report also examines the most influential growth drivers and restraints impacting market development in the major regions across the world.
Do you want to learn more about current offers and report customization? Contact the market research team.
The oil and gas industry has witnessed several ups and downs since the beginning of the modern oil era, including fluctuating oil prices and tremendous pressure to cut down on exploration and drilling activities to reduce fossil fuel production.
Globally, the countries with the most oil reserves include Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Libya.
On the other hand, there are thousands of oil companies around the world involved in the exploration, production, and distribution of oil and gas and related products.
Among the industry players, the Big Oil companies have made a mark for themselves in the highly volatile oil market and generated billions of dollars in revenue, with operations spanning one or more of upstream, midstream, and downstream segments.
As the oil demand continues to grow, so will the top oil and gas companies making a significant impact on the O&G industry in 2022 and beyond.
