Oil Giants Slip in List of Leading Energy Firms

Integrated oil majors like ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell once dominated the standings of the world’s leading energy companies, with assets, revenue and earnings far outpacing just about everyone else.

That’s not the case anymore, as companies that sell electricity and refine crude oil into fuel are gaining ground, as seen in a new survey by S&P Global Platts, a provider of energy information and benchmark prices, USA Today reported.

 “The oil price downturn has devastated the earnings and profits of oil and gas producers, while downsizing and the lower price deck have shrunk asset values. At their expense, gas, power utilities and refiners have seen their prospects lifted,” Platts said in the 2016 edition of its Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings.

Platts has conducted the survey for 15 years, measuring companies’ financial conditions using four metrics: asset worth, revenues, profits and return on invested capital.

The new release offers a look at company performance in 2015, the first full year of an oil price collapse that began in June 2014.

Exxon still holds the No. 1 spot in the Top 250, with $16.2 billion in earnings and $237 billion in revenue in 2015, among other factors considered by Platts.

But missing from the 10 leading companies in this year’s survey are Chevron, Shell and ConocoPhillips, not to mention the Chinese oil giants CNOOC and PetroChina.

Highly Exposed

Chevron fell 15 places, moving from the second to the 17th spot. Shell slipped 28 places to 31st on the list, and Conoco plummeted from seventh place last year to 129 this year after spinning off its refining and marketing operations, leaving it highly exposed to low oil prices.

Korea Electric Power came in second, up from the 41st in last year’s survey, benefiting from the plunge in oil and other fossil fuel prices as well as a heavy reliance on nuclear power. KEPCO supplies more than 80% of South Korea’s electric power market.

Finishing third was Russia’s gas giant Gazprom, which returned to the top 10 after a brief absence, as a weaker ruble and favorable Russian tax policies shielded the country’s big oil and gas producers from the impact of the oil price collapse.

Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, improved its standing, while Lukoil and Surgutneftegaz, moved into the leader board, the latter for the first time.

In short, much uncertainty remains in energy markets now, and that means the picture of who’s up and who’s down will continue to adjust.