KUALA LUMPUR (April 27): China and Asia are likely to extend their oil and gas dominance over their US peers, according to energy portal Oilprice.com.
Citing data from energy research and consultancy Wood Mackenzie (WoodMac), the portal yesterday said China led the pack of the top five most influential oil companies in the world in 2020, with two among them.
Coming in first was state-owned China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), with a total revenue of US$407 billion (about RM1.67 trillion) and net income of US$5.1 billion in 2020.
Sinopec is also the second-largest company listed on US exchanges in terms of revenue, behind only Walmart.
PetroChina Co, meanwhile, is the world's second-largest oil and gas company, currently holding assets in 30 countries across the globe. It notched up a revenue of US$296.3 billion and net income of US$2.9 billion in 2020.
PetroChina — the exchange-listed branch of Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation — specialises in oil and gas operations, oilfield services, petroleum engineering and construction, equipment manufacturing, financial services and new energy development.
Meanwhile, with a market cap of US$1.9 trillion, Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) is the world's most valuable oil and gas company, but only the third-largest in terms of revenue.
Aramco is unusual on this list given that its stock does not trade in the US.
Coming in fourth was Royal Dutch Shell plc, with a revenue of US$180.5 billion and a net loss of US$21.7 billion.
The portal added that Shell remains one of Big Oil's least optimistic companies when it comes to the long-term oil and gas outlook. The company said we might already be past peak oil demand, and is bracing itself for a worst-case scenario that demand will never fully recover.
At number five was BP plc, with a revenue of US$180.4 billion and a net loss of US$20.3 billion in 2020.
Oilprice said BP had lately become less aggressive with its oil production and exploration, but still remained more active than the likes of Shell.