Petroleum Africa
Find us on: 
Friday, October 9, 2009
US supermajor ExxonMobil Corp. has regained its ranking as the world’s most valuable company, overtaking PetroChina. The rankings are based on many factors including share price and return on capital.
ExxonMobil’s ascension to the top spot again comes as Chinese price controls failed to keep pace with rising crude costs, squeezing profits on refined fuels, and ultimately causing PetroChina’s shares to drop.
China’s state-run firm has seen its shares traded on the Shanghai Exchange drop 2.2% since early September against ExxonMobil whose shares rose 0.7% for the same period.
PetroChina’s 14% return on capital is less than half of ExxonMobil’s 36%, the highest among the world’s biggest 10 oil companies by sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
ExxonMobil’s annual sales are more than twice those of PetroChina. The company had $425 billion in sales in 2008.
“Exxon is a solidly run company, one of the best managed companies out there,” said Philip Weiss, an analyst at Argus Research in New York who has a “buy” rating on ExxonMobil shares and owns none. “It’s very conservatively run, has a good solid resource base, and generally provides good returns to shareholders.”
While the US supermajor has overtaken the Chinese firm, the company is still having a not so good year. The company is down 14% year to date and was put in the worst performance of the seven integrated oil companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500.
" alt="First LNG Realized at the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim Project">
" alt="United Energy Acquires Western Desert Producer APEX">
" alt="Baker Hughes Announces Major Gas Technology Orders for Venture Global LNG">
" alt="ReconAfrica: Naingopo Results Demonstrate a Working Petroleum System">
" alt="Tullow Highlights 2025 Operational Plans in Ghana">
" alt="TotalEnergies to Supply 1.5 TWh to STMicroelectronics in France Over 15 years">
" alt="Rockhopper Reaches Final Settlement with United on Egypt’s Abu Sennan Concession">
" alt="Oil & Gas Crucial for African Growth: AEC Calls for Industry Support to Defend African Market">
