National oil companies continue to head the lists of the world’s oil production and reserves leaders, according to Oil & Gas Journal’s survey of the top 100 oil and gas producers based outside the US, but more nongovernment corporations are breaking into the leading-producer rankings.
The OGJ100 survey allows comparison of the performance of oil and gas companies around the world, with all available financial results reported in US dollars. But OGJ doesn’t attempt to rank these entities by assets or earnings because many of the largest ones do not report financial results.
The companies are grouped by region according to the location of their corporate headquarters.
Production, reserves leaders
Worldwide production of crude oil, condensate, and NGL in 2007 averaged 85.6 million b/d, according to the International Energy Agency, up just 100,000 b/d from the 2006 average.
Topping the OGJ100 list of production leaders is Saudi Aramco, with total production of 3.1 billion bbl last year. This compares to its total output in 2006 of 3.25 billion bbl.
The second-highest producer in the OGJ100 group is National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), with 2007 oil production of 1.43 billion bbl. Petroleos Mexicanos was the third producer on the list, and Petroleos de Venezuela SA is No. 4.
BP PLC ranks as the No. 5 producer, with total 2007 production of 881 million bbl. Two corporations are new to the list of production leaders: Russia’s Surgutneftegas and Norway’s StatoilHydro.
Combined, the top 20 producers in the survey reported 17.6 billion bbl of oil output last year.
Aramco and NIOC also head the OGJ100 list of the top 20 oil reserves holders. The combined oil reserves of these top 20 firms are 1 trillion bbl, up 2% from the total for the group in last year’s survey (OGJ, Sept. 17, 2007, p. 36).
The combined oil production of the 25 Canadian companies in the survey declined 7% to 694 million bbl last year.
Annual results
Most of the companies in the OGJ100 that report their annual earnings posted increases in revenues, net income, and capital and exploration spending during 2007 vs. 2006. The yearend-2007 assets of most of the firms also moved higher.
The largest Canadian company with $47 billion in assets at the end of last year, EnCana Corp. reported a 30% earnings decline for 2007, primarily due to the impact of financial hedges.
In Europe, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP lead in terms of size and earnings, but each reported a slight reduction in oil production for 2007 from a year earlier.
Ranked by assets, PetroChina is the largest of the Asia-Pacific companies in the OGJ100, followed by Malaysia’s Petronas and Australia’s BHP Billiton Petroleum.
In Latin America, state-owned PDVSA holds the most oil and gas reserves, but Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) and Pemex rank higher in terms of total assets. While PDVSA and Petrobras reported earnings increases for 2007, Pemex posted a nearly $2 billion net loss for the year due to an increase in taxes and an increase in costs.
