You need not be an upstream authority to have known that there has been a growing power and presence of National Oil Companies (NOCs) around the world. Indeed, if you glance at the latest ‘Top 50 Oil Companies 2009’ provided by Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW), you will see that four of the top five companies are 100% owned NOCs, while 28 of the top 50 are majority owned NOCs.
Some have seen this as a worrying sign for the IOCs. As the NOCs’ powers increase and their operations spread out from within their own borders, surely they come in direct competition with their private brethren? The IOCs have reacted by stating that they have always done business in partnership with local governments and NOCs, and their increased cooperation in JVs with the more powerful NOCs would only be positive for all involved.
With this in mind, we take a look at the top 10 NOCs at present by oil production figures, to see who are the biggest national players when it comes to pumping the black gold out of terra firma.
The world’s largest oil and gas company unsurprisingly tops the pile when it comes to oil production. To give you an indication of the company’s size, in 2007 it was the world’s eighth largest company in terms of gross revenue, taking in nearly US$200 billion. The sole purveyor of the world’s largest oil reserve, at around 267 billion barrels of oil, the company continues to go from strength to strength.
According to Energy Information Administration (EIA) statistics for 2009, Saudi Aramco clocked in at 9.26 million bpd of oil, surpassing all those in its wake. Considering its plans to increase production further in coming years, its place on top of the podium should remain fairly secure.
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