Whether you think the world runs on oil or the world is run by it, it’s hard to argue against the fact that oil is the lifeblood that keeps us all moving. From heating our homes to powering our cars, it’s one of the most important natural resources given to us by the world. The fact that oil is such a world-wide commodity has also made it into one of the biggest and largest growing businesses on the planet. Below are five of the largest oil companies arranged by market value. See for yourself who has taken advantage of the liquid our world runs on.
5. Total S.A. (France) – $149.8 billion
Founded in 1924 by Ernest Mercier, this French multinational oil and gas company has become one of the six “supermajor” oil companies on the planet. Not only does Total S.A cover everything gas and oil related, but also acts as a large-scale chemicals manufacturer and continues to explore alternative energy.
4. PetroChina (China) – $202 billion
Headquartered in Beijing, PetroChina Company Limited is China’s biggest oil producer and the most profitable company in all of Asia. Founded in 1999 as a joint stock company under the Company Law of the People’s Republic of China, it currently employs over five hundred thousand people and has become an oil giant.
3. Chevron Corporation (United States) – $227.2 billion
Founded in 1984, Chevron Corporation is the second-largest energy corporation in the Unites States. Active in close to 200 countries, Chevron not only covers every aspect of oil and gas, but also has a wide-range of alternative energy operations and can even lay claim to being the world’s largest producer of geothermal energy.
2. Royal Dutch Shell plc (Netherlands) – $234.1 billion
Royal Dutch Shell plc is a multinational oil company created by the 1907 merger of two rival companies–Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and the Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd of the United Kingdom. Since then, it has become the second largest company in the world and produces over three million barrels of oil per day.
1. ExxonMobil (United States) – $422.3 billion
A direct descendent of business tycoon John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil company, ExxonMobil was formed in 1999 by the merger of Exxon (formerly Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey) and Mobil (formerly Standard Oil Co. of New York). Producing more than five million barrels of oil per day, ExxonMobil is the largest refiner in the world and the third-largest company in the world behind that of Royal Dutch Shell and Walmart.
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