The combined value of the 50 largest publicly traded energy companies increased 35% in 2009 to $3.9 trillion, according to energy consultants PFC Energy. That value remains 26% below its $5.2 trillion high at the end of 2007. The 35% gain compares with increases of 71% in oil prices and 20% in the S&P 500 over the same period.
“Many long term trends that were underway before the financial crisis have reasserted themselves,”
One year ago, five of the top six positions on the PFC Energy 50 were occupied by ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP and TOTAL. ExxonMobil had also reclaimed its long-standing leadership of the PFC Energy 50 list from PetroChina.
This year, PetroChina tops the list again, with a market capitalization of $353.1 billion, 9% larger than ExxonMobil’s $323.7 billion and Brazilian company Petrobras at #4 with a value of $199.2 billion that was larger than either Royal Dutch Shell or BP.
In the past twelve months, the combined value of the list’s nine traded national oil companies (NOCs) rose by 66%, while the six SuperMajors, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron, TOTAL and ConocoPhillips increased their combined value by less than 1% and OECD-based integrated companies gained only 6% in value.
2009 was a turnaround year for countries as well as companies. Russian companies, last year’s worst performers, posted a combined 88% value gain and the value of the Chinese companies grew 52%.
Also visible this year are early signs of industry restructuring and consolidation. After spinning off its integrated oil sands operations as Cenovus, a smaller Encana fell from #22 to #44, the list’s largest drop. The Petro-Canada merger helped Suncor increase its market capitalization by 91% to climb from #37 to #22. ExxonMobil’
