STATE COMPANIES LEAD OGJ100 WORLD RESERVES, PRODUCTION LIST

Robert J. Beck Economics Editor Laura Bell Survey Editor Government owned oil companies dominate the international OGJ100 list of top non-U.S. holders of oil production and reserves. The OGJ100 lists companies by region, based on headquarters locations. Ranking by assets or income is impossible because many state companies do not report financial data. Among the top 20 international producers, Royal Dutch/Shell is the top nongovernment company. It's No. 6 in liquids production and No. 11

Sept. 28, 1992

2 min read

Robert J. Beck
Economics Editor

Laura Bell
Survey Editor

Government owned oil companies dominate the international OGJ100 list of top non-U.S. holders of oil production and reserves.

The OGJ100 lists companies by region, based on headquarters locations. Ranking by assets or income is impossible because many state companies do not report financial data.

Among the top 20 international producers, Royal Dutch/Shell is the top nongovernment company. It's No. 6 in liquids production and No. 11 in liquids reserves.

British Petroleum is the next largest nongovernment company on the list-No. 11 in liquids production and 16 in liquids reserves.

Elf Aquitaine, which is 55.8% owned by the French government, is No. 17 in liquids production and 22 in liquids reserves. Italy's Agip, which is to be privatized along with parent ENI, is No. 19 in liquids production and 20 in liquids reserves.

Crude oil reserves of the top 20 companies gained 15.3 billion bbl in 1991 to 869.5 billion bbl. Last year's top 20 showed only a 401 million bbl reserves gain for 1990.

The year before there were substantial reserves adjustments, and the top 20 companies posted an increase of 139.3 billion bbl.

These largest 20 companies now control 87.7% of world oil reserves. This is up from 85.5% in 1990 and 85.2% in 1989. In 1991 the top companies accounted for 58.6% of total world production.

The major international oil companies based in the U.S. are not included in the OGJ100, but several of them would rank in the top 20.

Exxon would be No. 8 in worldwide liquids production and No. 14 in worldwide liquids reserves.

Other U.S. companies that would make the list of top oil producers in the world are Chevron No. 12, Mobil No. 14, ARCO No. 15, Amoco No. 16, and Texaco No. 18.

No other OGJ300 company would make the top 20 liquids reserves list.