PFC Energy 50 Ranking of World�s Top Energy Companies: SuperMajors, led by Chevron, Top 2011 Value Growth Performance

by PFC Energy, press release, Washington D.C., Jan 23, 2012

The six SuperMajors posted the best group performance among companies returning to this year�s PFC Energy 50 list. ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell [#3 at $234.6 bn -- D.R], Chevron, BP [#6 at $135.5 bn -- D.R.], TOTAL [#8 at $121.0 bn -- D.R.] and ConocoPhillips [#10 at 96.8 bn -- D.R.] increased their combined market capitalization 8% during 2011 to $1.2 trillion. Chevron (#4 at $211.9 bn) increased its valuation by 15% from $183.6 bn one year ago�the largest percentage increase of any returning company.

 

ExxonMobil (#1 at $406.3 bn) kept the first place position it has held every year except 2007 and 2009, when the list was headed by PetroChina, this year at #2 with a market valuation of $276.6 bn.

 

�At higher oil prices than four years ago the combined $3.6 trillion valuation of the PFC Energy 50 companies still falls short of the peak $5.2 trillion in December 2007,� commented PFC Energy�s Chairman and CEO, Robin West. �Several factors drive the lower valuation, including significantly lower North American gas prices and less buoyant global equity markets.�

 

Marathon [#44 in 2010 -- D.R.] ended its six-year run on the PFC Energy 50 when it spun off downstream operations in July as Marathon Petroleum. Marathon Oil (+30%) and Marathon Petroleum (+14%) led the Exploration & Production and Refining & Marking segments in share price performance. The combined market value of the two companies increased 24%.

 

Underperforming the overall list were National Oil Companies and companies located in emerging markets. With investors viewing these companies more critically due to country risk exposure and lack of portfolio diversification, the groupings posted value declines of 14% and 16%, respectively. 

 

The combined value of the four service sector companies on the PFC Energy 50 list (Schlumberger, Halliburton, National Oilwell Varco and [Luxembourg-based] Tenaris) declined by 16% as the global energy industry achieved high activity levels with no significant tightness in services and equipment markets. 

 

A major story of 2011 has been the expanding oil and gas potential of the North American onshore, which has created an intense demand for infrastructure. In recognition of their growing importance, this year�s PFC Energy 50 list includes midstream and pipeline companies. Four companies from that segment made the list�Enterprise (#25), TransCanada (#37), Enbridge (#40) and Kinder Morgan (#41). As a group, these new entrants to the PFC Energy 50 posted the year�s largest value gains. [Full Story -- D.R.] 

 

(PFC Energy, the Washington-based consulting firm, publishes an annual Top 50 ranking of the biggest publicly-traded energy companies, based mainly on capital market performance. The listing includes companies from nine sectors: International Oil Companies; National Oil Companies; Exploration & Production; Midstream/Infrastructure, Refining & Marketing; Gas/Utilities; Oilfield & Drilling Services; Equipment, Engineering & Construction; and Alternative Energy. State-backed national oil companies, or NOCs, had a bad 2011. Only two publicly traded NOCs -- Norwegian Statoil (+9%) and Colombian Ecopetrol (+1%) -- posted positive performance. The largest declines among NOCs experienced Indian ONGC (-33%, #24 in 2011 versus #21 in 2010), Brazilian Petrobras (-33%, #5 in 2011 versus #3 in 2010) and China's CNOOC (-26%, #15 in 2011 versus #10 in 2010). The full PFC Energy 50, January 2012 report is also available at https://workspaces.acrobat.com/?d=MRjCvriadJ0ApxoN67GMvQ Also, please see my previous post "World Watch: PFC Energy 50 Ranking of World's Top Energy Companies, Jan 2011." -- D.R.)