Supermajors - the products of major oil and gas company mergers - are showing increased dominance in terms of worldwide crude oil production, according to Oil & Gas Journal's latest look at the top 100 oil and gas companies outside the US. State-owned companies continue to head the lists of production and reserve leaders, however.
The OGJ100 list of major non-US companies allows comparison of size and performance of prominent companies throughout the world. The companies are listed by region according to the location of corporate headquarters rather than ranked by assets or revenues, as many do not report financial data.
The survey of oil and gas producers located outside the US shows that 1999 production moved significantly lower while reserves continued to climb. The top 20 companies in worldwide crude oil production and worldwide crude oil reserves for 1999 are shown in Table 1.
Production, reserves
In 1999, the top 20 producers based outside the US had combined crude and condensate production averaging 42.6 million b/d, or 66% of total world crude and condensate output for the year. Total production dipped in 1999 as a result of pullbacks made in an attempt to bolster sagging prices. This is reflected in the production results of our top 20 list. In 1998, output for our top 20 producers averaged 43.6 million b/d.
Non-government companies are creeping higher up the lists because of mergers. BP Amoco ranks as the 8th largest producer of liquids in the world for 1999, up from 10th on our list of 1998 data. The combination of France's TotalFinaElf is ranked at number 13 in terms of production, whereas Elf Aquitaine ranked 19th in our last report before its mergers with Total and Fina.
Royal Dutch/Shell, with headquarters in the Netherlands, remains the leading non-government company in terms of liquids production, although it was moved lower as Iraq National Oil Co. edged up in the list. INOC ranks 6th in liquids production for 1999 with output at 968.5 million bbl, up from 8th previously with 1998 output of 770.2 million bbl.
The Russian giant Yukos provided data for the first time and has entered our survey as the 19th largest liquids producer, reporting output of 285 million bbl for 1999. Lukoil, another large Russian concern, increased production over 1998 and moved up from the 14th largest producer in last year's survey to 11th this year with 606.2 million bbl produced.
Crude reserves for the top 20 companies in our survey totaled 912 billion bbl in 1999, up from 903.5 billion for our top 20 a year earlier. Based on the most recent OGJ estimates, this year's top 20 reserves leaders control 89.8% of total world crude oil reserves.
The crude oil reserves-to-production ratio for the top 20 companies was 58.7 years last year, up from 56.7 years for 1998 and down from 59.7 years in 1997.
The OGJ100 list does not include major international oil companies headquartered in the US, but if it did ExxonMobil Corp. would rank 7th in worldwide liquids production and 13th in worldwide liquids reserves. Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc. would not rank in the top 20 for liquids production, but they would be 17th and 18th in liquids reserves.