Top 5 biggest oil companies in the world

Top 5 biggest oil companies in the world. Depending on the discovery of new deposits or new exploitation techniques, the ranking of the most important oil producers changes. The coronavirus crisis could upset the landscape in the coming months.

When we think of oil, we often imagine that it is mainly extracted in the countries of the Middle East. However, while a significant amount of oil comes from these regions, in reality, crude is extracted all over the world. At the top of the ranking of the most important oil producers, we find a country that we would not necessarily think of.

You already know at least a certain number of names such as Total, Shell, or BP. But have you ever wondered what the other big oil companies are? How much do they earn each year or how many barrels of oil do they manage to produce each day to meet global demand? If so, then this ranking is for you. We have listed the top 10 oil companies in the world, ranked by their 2015 revenue.

According to the latest figures in our possession, the top five oil-producing countries in the world are:

1. The United States, with 11.8 million barrels per day;

2. Russia, with 10.7 million barrels per day;

3. Saudi Arabia, with 9.1 million barrels per day;

4. Iraq, with 4.6 million barrels per day;

5. Canada, with 4.3 million barrels per day.

This classification helps to understand the consequences of the sanctions taken by the United States on Iran. In 2018, this country was indeed in 5th place in this ranking.

We can also see that the exploitation of shale oil and tar sands is booming, since countries like Canada and the United States, which exploit this type of oil extensively, are among the top five oil producers in the country. world.

What impact will the coronavirus crisis have?

Is this ranking likely to be upset by the coronavirus crisis we are going through right now? It’s entirely possible. Since the start of this pandemic, global demand for oil has fallen by 30%. This caused a real collapse in the price of crude.

The reactions to deal with this situation have been diverse. Initially, Saudi Arabia, for example, unilaterally decided to increase its production and sell it at low prices. The maneuver is intended to cause difficulties for other producing countries, for which the cost of production is higher.

These countries include the United States, the world’s largest producer. It is generally estimated that to be profitable, shale oil produced mainly by the United States must be sold at 40 dollars a barrel. But Brent is currently trading for just over $ 30. In the long term, this situation is therefore not financially sustainable.

That being said, OPEC + – an organization bringing together members of OPEC and its allies, such as Russia – finally decided on April 9 to reduce its production by 10 million barrels per day from May 1 until May 1 at. end of June. This decrease of 10 million barrels per day is massive, representing no less than 10% of the world supply. After these two months, the drop in production will drop to 8 million barrels per day, then to 6 million between January 2021 and April 2022. Enough to raise prices.

Between this significant drop in production and the delicate situation in the United States, we must therefore expect that the ranking of the most important producing countries will be upset in a few months.

TOP 10 Global Oil Companies

10th: Lukoil ($ 144.17 billion)

Lukoil is one of the few private oil companies located in Russia. Today most of its production is based in Russia, but it also has interesting locations in Basra in southern Iraq. It is able to produce around 2.2 million barrels per day (mbd).

9th: Total S.A. (212 billion dollars)

Known to everyone in France, Total is included each year in the ranking of the 10 largest oil companies in the world. Like many others on this list, the French company operates both upstream and downstream of the oil life cycle with operations around the world. It bought SunPower in 2011, a California-based company working in the solar energy industry. It produces around 2.7 million barrels per day.

8th: BP (222.8 billion dollars)

BP (for British Petroleum) is one of the oldest companies, its history stretching back over a century now when it was extracting oil in Iran. Over time, the company has made a number of acquisitions, including a number in the United States more recently. It nevertheless suffered greatly from the Deepwater Horizon platform accident in the United States in 2010, where it lost a lot of money. BP produces approximately 4.1 million barrels per day.

7th: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (251.94 billion dollars)

Kuwait’s national oil company is quite unique. It is the only one among the TOP10 to have grown without making any acquisitions. Although not the size of its Saudi competitor, Kuwait Petroleum Corp. is one of the few Persian Gulf producers who today form the backbone of OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). It produces around 3.5 million barrels per day.

6th: Royal Dutch Shell (265 billion dollars)

The Anglo-Dutch company is one of the largest private companies in the ranking. She has a long and very documented history which explains how she gradually developed. One of its latest acquisitions is the BG Group, a major exporter of liquefied natural gas. Shell has operations all over the world and is not afraid to innovate as with one of the world’s deepest rigs in the Gulf of Mexico or the world’s first LNG production vessel. Shell seems to be turning more and more towards the natural gas sector, however. It produces 3.9 million barrels per day.

5th: Exxon Mobil ($ 268.9 billion)

The Texan oil company is one of the icons of the sector but also the largest private company in terms of production with 5.3 million barrels per day. When Exxon bought Mobil in 1999 (both companies originate from John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil) it created the largest company in the world. Today, Exxon Mobil operates on every continent except Antarctica, both in oil and gas.

4th: Petrochina (367.982 billion dollars)

Chinese oil and gas company Petrochina is a branch of the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

3rd: China National Petroleum Corporation (428.62 billion dollars)

CNPC is the second largest Chinese national oil company behind Sinopec. It is a little lower than the latter in terms of income, but its production of 4.4 million barrels per day is almost three times greater.

2nd: Sinopec or China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (454.99 billion dollars)

The Chinese state-owned company is so big that it has consolidated the country’s oil industry by buying out many of its competitors over the years. Based in Beijing, however, the company does not produce as much as the others in the ranking. She preferred to specialize in refined products (such as fuels). Sinopec produces around 1.6 million barrels per day, which is already a good average although it is lower than its competitors.

1st: Saudi Aramco ($ 478 billion)

Saudi Arabia’s national oil company holds the top spot with a monstrous output well above the rest of 12.5 million barrels per day. The Saudi company is what gives Saudi Arabia and OPEC its enormous influence in the oil market. Originally, the creation of the company was the result of a partnership between the country and the American company Aramco. However, the Saudi government bought out the entire company following the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Recently, the company was valued at $ 30 trillion, eclipsing all other oil companies on the planet.