Government Oil Companies Dominate OGJ100 List Of Production Leaders Outside U.S

Marilyn Radler Survey Editor The OGJ100 list of major companies outside the U.S. reflects the continued dominance of worldwide reserves holdings by governments. Since many government oil and gas companies report only production and reserves, financial rankings aren't possible. The list is therefore organized by region, based on locations of companies' headquarters.

Sept. 7, 1998

3 min read

Robert J. Beck
Associate Managing Editor-Economics

Marilyn Radler
Survey Editor

The OGJ100 list of major companies outside the U.S. reflects the continued dominance of worldwide reserves holdings by governments.

Since many government oil and gas companies report only production and reserves, financial rankings aren't possible. The list is therefore organized by region, based on locations of companies' headquarters.

The leading nongovernment company in both reserves and production is Royal Dutch/Shell-No. 6 in liquids production and No. 12 in liquids reserves. British Petroleum is the next largest nongovernment company. BP ranks 12th in liquids production and 16th in liquids reserves.

Elf Aquitaine ranked 18th in liquids production.

There was one new company on the list of the top 20 non-U.S. producers: Iraq National Oil Co. moved up to No. 13. The United Nations allowed Iraq to produce and export oil in 1997 to generate revenues for humanitarian needs.

In 1997 the top 20 companies outside of the U.S. had crude production averaging 41.1 million b/d. Total output for the top 20 was 63% of total world crude and condensate production in 1997.

There was no change in the companies that made up the top 20 in terms of crude oil reserves. There was some reordering of the companies on the list as new reserve estimates were made.

None of the large Russian companies is on the list of the top 20 because of difficulties in obtaining accurate production and reserves information from these companies. The Russian reserve evaluation method generally includes much more than proved reserves. Estimated 1997 production figures for Lukoil put total annual output at 450.8 million bbl, which would place it 13th on the list of top 20 producers worldwide.

Total crude reserves for the top 20 companies was 896.1 billion bbl in 1997, up from 887.3 billion bbl in 1996. Based on the latest OGJ estimates of worldwide reserves, the top 20 companies now control 88% of total world crude oil reserves.

The crude oil reserves to production ratio for the top 20 companies was 59.7 years in 1997, compared with 61 years in 1996, 63.9 years in 1995, 64.6 years in 1994, and 65.7 years in 1993.

International oil companies headquartered in the U.S. are not included in the OGJ100 list, but several of the companies would rank in the top 20 worldwide. Exxon would rank 10th in worldwide liquids production and 14th in worldwide liquids reserves. Chevron would rank 15th in production and 19th in reserves.

Other U.S. companies that would make the list of top oil producers in the world are Mobil 16th, and Texaco 18th. No other companies on the OGJ200 list would make the list of the top 20 companies worldwide in terms of liquids reserves.