(L. petroleum, from Greek: πέτρα (rock)
+ Latin:oleum (oil)
is a
naturally occurring flammable liquidconsisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of
various molecular weights and other liquid organic
compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface.
The name Petroleum covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oils and
petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil. A fossil fuel,
it is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, usually zooplankton andalgae, are buried
underneath sedimentary rock and undergo intense heat and
pressure.
Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil
drilling. This comes after the studies of structural geology (at the
reservoir scale), sedimentary basin analysis, reservoir characterization
(mainly in terms of porosity and permeable structures). It is
refined and separated, most easily by boiling
point, into a large number of consumer products, from petrol (or gasoline) and kerosene to asphalt and
chemical reagents used
to make plastics and pharmaceuticals. Petroleum
is used in manufacturing a wide variety of materials, and
it is estimated that the world consumes about 88 million barrels each
day.
The use of fossil fuels such as petroleum can have a
negative impact on Earth's biosphere, releasing pollutants and greenhouse gases
into the air and damaging ecosystems through events such as oil spills.
Concern over the depletion of the earth's finite reserves of oil, and the effect
this would have on a society dependent on it, is a concept known as peak oil.
Saudi Aramco is by far the
biggest energy company in the world, generating more than $1 billion a day in
revenues. This image depicts the Shaybah mega-project, sitting on more than 15
billion barrels of oil in the Rub al-Khali desert. Aramco's biggest field,
Ghawar, can do 5 million bpd. (Note: 2012 working interest production
volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in
natural gas.)
2. Gazprom - 9.7 million barrels
per day
Russia's Gazprom is the world's
largest producer of natural gas. Controlled by the Kremlin, Gazprom's monopoly
on gas deliveries to much of Europe provides President Vladimir Putin a prime
lever for projecting power in the region. Gazprom's profits are more than $40
billion a year. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated
by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Iran has been forced to curtail
oil production due to international sanctions, but remains a huge oil and gas
producer. To skirt sanctions, Turkey and India have reportedly been paying for
Iranian oil with gold. The Strait of Hormuz remains the world's most
significant choke point for oil. Iran has threatened to close the Strait if
attacked. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated by
Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Exxon's $40 billion in annual
profits don't seem like a lot when you consider their $400 billion in sales. It
takes giant projects to "move the needle" for the Big Unit. That
means CEO Rex Tillerson has to make friends with potentates. In this picture
from last April, Tillerson is meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin to iron out
a joint venture between Exxon and Russia's state-controlled oil giant
Rosneft. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated by
Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
The largest of China's three
state-controlled oil giants, PetroChina also has the highest market cap of any
of the publicly traded giants. The company already produces more oil than
ExxonMobil, and considering the estimates of massive shale gas under China,
could someday vie with Gazprom as a regional gas power. (Note: 2012
working interest production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil
plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
6. BP- 4.1 million barrels per
day
Bob Dudley is seeking to turn the
giant formerly known as British Petroleum around. Selling assets, settling
lawsuits, promising improvements. BP may not maintain its 4.1 million barrels
per day for long; it is in talks to sell its 50% stake in Russian venture
TNK-BP, which provides a quarter of production. (Note: 2012 working
interest production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the
energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Shell is hoping this summer to
start drilling for oil in Alaska's Chuckchi Sea. For years since leasing
offshore blocks from the federal government Shell has been perfecting its
drilling plan and preparing the Kulluk floating drilling rig,
pictured here in the Puget Sound by Seattle. (Note: 2012 working interest
production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy
equivalent in natural gas.)
8. Pemex - 3.6 million barrels
per day
Production from Mexico's biggest
field, Cantarell (pictured) has plunged from 2 million bbl per day to roughly
600,000 now. State-owned Pemex is working to replace that shortfall with other
fields. Mexico's incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto has said reforming Pemex
to allow foreign investment will be his signature issue. (Note: 2012
working interest production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil
plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
9. Chevron - 3.5 million barrels
per day
Chevron bought Atlas Petroleum in
2010 for $4.3 billion to gain acreage in the Marcellus and Utica shales. With
gas prices low, some expect a bigger deal to come. (Note: 2012 working
interest production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the
energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Kuwait's oil company was
originally formed in 1934 by what are now Chevron and BP. In 1975 the company
was nationalized. Kuwait's fields suffered greatly by fires set by Saddam
Hussein's forces in 1990. Kurwait's biggest field, Burgan, continues to be operated
by Chevron. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated by
Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Abu Dhabi is the seat of power in
the United Arab Emirates. It is currently taking advantage of its strategic
position adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz to build a pipeline to Fujairah,
alleviating any chance of its crude exports being bottlenecked by an Iranian
blockade. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated by
Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Most of the output from Algeria's
national energy company is in the form of natural gas, much of which Algeria
exports to Europe. This image depicts the In Salah gas project, which strips
out carbon dioxide from the gas stream and reinjects it back down into the gas
reservoirs. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated by
Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
13. Total - 2.7 million barrels
per day
After French President Francois
Hollande imposed new taxes on oil inventories in July, Total CEO Christophe de
Margerie said the move would cost Total nearly $200 million in 2012 and hurt
France's already ailing refining sector. (Note: 2012 working interest
production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy
equivalent in natural gas.)
Former CEO Sergio Gabrielli
passes the baton to new Petrobras boss Maria das Gracas Silva Foster last
February. The company is striving to develop massive ultra deep oil fields
offshore. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated by
Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
15. Rosneft - 2.6 million barrels
per day
Sibling to Gazprom, Rosneft is
Russia's state-controlled oil company. Russian President Vladimir Putin is
shown here in June attending a signing ceremony of a joint venture between
Rosneft and ExxonMobil to explore Russia's Arctic seas and giant oil-bearing
shales. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated by Wood
Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Iraq will likely zoom up the
ranks of the world's biggest producers as its giant untapped fields come on
line. This photo is of drilling in West Qurna Phase 2, a project operated by
Russia's Lukoil to tap 13 billion barrels. Lukoil's contract with Iraq pays it
just $1.15 per barrel extracted. (Note: 2012 working interest production
volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in
natural gas.)
The vast majority of Qatar's
production is in the form of natural gas, which gets shipped as LNG around the
world. Qatar shares the world's largest natural gas field, which lies under the
Persian Gulf, with Iran. Qatar is also home to the biggest U.S. military base
in the region, not far across the desert from its gleaming capital Doha. (Note:
2012 working interest production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects
oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
18. Lukoil - 2.2 million barrels
per day
Lukoil was formed in 1991 by
former Soviet deputy oil minister Vagit Alekperov, who still runs the company
and owns a 20% stake worth some $13 billion. Though Lukoil is investor-owned,
Alekperov is still careful to consult Vladimir Putin. The two are seen here in
2010 touring Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery at Kstovo in the Nizhny
Novgorod region. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes
calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural
gas.)
19. Eni - 2.2 million barrels per
day
Eni is Italy's oil champion. CEO
Paolo Scaroni has in recent years made landmark joint ventures with the likes
of Venezuela's Pdvsa and Russia's Rosneft. Here Scaroni shakes the hand of
Dhiya Jaafar, acting chief of Iraq's South Oil Company, second right, as Iraqi
Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, center, looks on. In Iraq Eni is expanding
the giant Zubair field. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes
calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural
gas.)
20. Statoil - 2.1 million barrels
per day
The Norwegian government owns 67%
of the shares in Statoil. The company has invested some $20 billion in the
U.S., including the $4.7 billion acquisition of Bakken-focused Brigham
Exploration in 2011. In May CEO Helge Lund (L) inked a new joint venture with
Russia's Rosneft. There's Putin again. (Note: 2012 working interest
production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy
equivalent in natural gas.)
This year ConocoPhillips spun off
its refining business as Phillips 66 to focus on upstream operations. It may
not have wanted its refineries, but strangely, Delta Air Lines did. This
picture is of the Trainer, Pa. plant that Delta bought in hopes of paring its
jet fuel bill. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated
by Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Known as Pdvsa, Venezuela's oil
company seems to be the personal piggy bank of President Hugo Chavez, who has
starved the company of capital to pay for social programs. Output is down 25%
since 1998. That's Chavez' mug emblazoned on the side of Pdvsa headquarters in
Caracas. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated by
Wood Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
23. Sinopec - 1.6 million barrels
per day
Sinopec is China's biggest
refiner. This year Sinopec cut a sweeping shale venture with Devon Energy.
Chairman Fu Chengyu was also seen at at the NBA Finals as a guest of Oklahoma
City Thunder owner, and Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon. (Note:
2012 working interest production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects
oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Amid a crackdown on corruption in
Nigeria's country's oil industry, President Goodluck Jonathan has recently
sacked several executives of NNPC. Critics have also been calling for the head
of oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, shown here attending an OPEC meeting in
Vienna. (Note: 2012 working interest production volumes calculated by Wood
Mackenzie reflects oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
25. Petronas - 1.4 million
barrels per day
Malaysia's state oil giant mades
its headquarters in the landmark Petronas Twin Towers, seen in the background
of this photo. Petronas has recently expanded abroad, and is in the process of
acquiring Canada's gas-focused Progress Energy for $5.4 billion. (Note:
2012 working interest production volumes calculated by Wood Mackenzie reflects
oil plus the energy equivalent in natural gas.)
Not Just The Usual Suspects
Love em or hate em, oil and natural gas companies keep the
world running, and will for many years to come. The following 2012 ranking of
the world's biggest is based on the combined volumes of oil and natural gas
that these companies produce each day. You'll see one individual (arguably the
oil industry's most powerful person) show up in a number of these pics. Can you
guess who?For more energy industry coverage, check out my blog.
-- Christopher Helman |
HERE
- Petroleum Industry : HERE
- Super Major : HERE
7/16/2012 @ 2:16PM
The World's Biggest Oil Companies
Every once in a while it’s good to remind ourselves who
really controls the world’s horde of oil and gas. When you here the words “Big
Oil” the company that likely springs first to mind is ExxonMobil. But in
reality there are far bigger players than Exxon. More than 70% of world oil
reserves, and an even greater percentage of the remaining reserves of “easy
oil” are held by national oil companies controlled by kings and potentates and
even some democratically elected governments like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and
Norway.
But when sorting through the rankings of the
World’s 25 Biggest Oil Companies and looking at who
controls and influences the biggest of big oil one thing becomes clear: no
industry leader has more sway, has twisted more arms or made more deals than
Russian President
Vladimir
Putin.
Putin’s influence begins with
Gazprom (#2 on the
list of biggest oil and gas producers) and
Rosneft(#15).
Russia’s biggest natural gas and oil producers may be publicly traded, but a
majority of shares are held by the Russian government, and thus overseen by
Putin. Forbes
first
investigated Putin’s use of Gazprom as a political tool back in
2006 and his hold on the company—which has a near monopoly on selling gas
to western Europe—has only strengthened since then. The same goes for Rosneft,
to which Putin recently appointed his long-time deputy and energy tsar
Igor Sechin as
chairman.
Putin is also influential in the interworkings of
Lukoil (#18),
which does not have any government ownership but was formed by a former Soviet
deputy oil minister,
Vagit
Alekperov, who is now
worth $13.5
billion.
This year ExxonMobil (#4) forged a sweeping joint venture
with
Rosneft to
explore the Arctic as well as Siberia’s massive Bazhevon shale formation,
which some think could be 80 bigger than the Bakken formation of North Dakota.
Exxon has said that if successful this tie-up could lead to $500 billion in
investments in the years to come.
BP (#6)
tried to cut a similar deal last year, but was blocked by the Russian oligarchs
behind BP’s 50/50 venture TNK-BP. (BP is now in talks with
Rosneftagain,
given its intent to sell out its TNK-BP stake.) Rosneft in recent months has
cut similar ventures with Norway’s state oil giant
Statoil (#20)
as well as Italy’s champion
Eni (#19).
A stern-visaged Putin has presided over each of the signing ceremonies.
Eni has
been particularly friendly with the Kremlin. Putin forged a close friendship
with former Italian Prime Minister
Silvio
Berlusconi and reportedly said that the sexual allegations that led in
part to the fall of Berlusconi were
“made out of envy.”
That helped open the door for
Gazprom to
link up with
Eni on
natural gas projects in north Africa,
especially Libya. Putin, at a summit with Muammar Gaddafi
in 2008 forged an alliance between Russia and Libya, and
was highly
critical of NATOs attacks on Libya last year.
Gaddafi was just one of Putin’s oil-soaked despot pals. In
2010 Putin and Venezuelan strongman
Hugo Chavez signed a deal in
which Russia promised to sell Venezuela weapons and energy technology and to
even help Chavez build a nuclear power plant. Last year
Gazprom and
Rosneft loaned Petroleos de Venezuela (#22) $4 billion
in exchange for access to oil and gas opportunities.
But what of the great Middle Eastern oil and gas powers?
Putin has had a rocky relationship with OPEC over the years. Russia is a not a
member of the cartel despite the fact that until just recently it was exporting
more oil than Saudi Arabia. In fact Russia has competed directly with Saudi
Aramco (#1) for customers in the Far East. Last year, however, Putin
said that Russia would start cooperating with OPEC
“OPEC is sometimes irritated by us as we, not being a member
of the organization, produce more oil, which influences international crude oil
prices,” said Putin. “But we will coordinate our work with OPEC.”
Putin
tried, and failed, five years ago, to get natural gas
giants Qatar Petroleum (#17) and the National Iranian Oil Company (#3)
interested in forming a gas version of OPEC. That was before the U.S. shale gas
boom changed the face of global gas supply.
Putin presides over a signing ceremony in Moscow last April
with Italian energy company Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni (L) and Rosneft CEO Eduard
Khudainatov. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)
The trouble for Putin and other gas giants is that the
global gas market is nowhere near as fungible as oil. Asian buyers like Japan
and Korea pay upwards of $14 per thousand cubic feet for gas delivered via LNG
from Qatar.
Gazprom sells
gas to Europe at around $12. Contrast that with the going price in the United
States right now of $2.90 for a thousand cubic feet.
The revolution of cracking natural gas out of shale is
frankly the biggest threat to Putin’s power over the energy industry. It’s
brought the price of gas in the U.S. down more than 80% since 2008 and enabled
manufacturers to move operations back to the U.S. to take advantage of it —
saving America
$100 billion a year in the process.
Once U.S. producers build facilities to export LNG (Cheniere
Energy is
getting closer all the time) that will be one more
global competitor for
Gazprom.
So it’s no wonder that Putin and his cronies have been
railing against shale gas. Two years ago Gazprom’s Alexander Medvedev hit out
against shale gas, saying fracking
“endangers drinking water.” Last April Putin himself
said Russians must
“rise to the challenge” of shale gas and that
“national energy companies, obviously, must respond to these challenges.
” The
Kremlin’s global
propaganda arm, a government-owned TV network that
broadcasts in the U.S. and over YouTube called
Russia Today, has done just that with a series of one-sided
anti-fracking stories like
this and
this and
this.
We’ll see how the tune changes when it’s time to Exxon and
Statoil to
start fracking Siberia. Don’t think for a second that Putin will let
anti-fracking protests prevent Gazprom and
Rosneft from
losing their place among the
World’s Biggest 25 Oil Companies.
What are the Largest Oil Companies on the Planet? HERE
With the ever rising cost of motor fuel in most countries
around the world, more and more attention has been focused on the largest oil
companies in today's market. Many people are not entirely certain what are the
largest oil companies in the world today.
Before turning to focus directly on the largest oil
companies in the world, it is interesting to look at the top ten largest
corporations of all varieties in operation in the world today.
The top ten
corporations in the world today, the ten largest corporations in the world
today are:
- Exxon Mobil
- Wal-Mart Stores
- Royal Dutch Shell
- BP
- General Motors
- Chevron
- DaimlerChrysler
- Toyota Motor
- Ford Motor
- ConocoPhillips
Fully fifty percent of the largest companies on the planet
today are oil companies:
- Exxon Mobil
- Royal Dutch Shell
- BP
- Chevron
- ConocoPhillips
One interesting trend that has been occurring in the past
decade involves the merger of oil companies. Indeed, it is because of the
merger of the Exxon and Mobile corporations that drove the combined Exxon
Mobile to the top of the charts as the largest corporation in the world. Of the
five oil companies that dominate the list of the top ten largest companies in
business today, three of the companies are merged enterprises.
The mergers took
place only in the past ten years:
- Exxon Mobile
- Royal Dutch Shell
- ConocoPhillips
Historically, when oil companies first started to gain a
significant market share in the United States and around the world, these
companies were large "oil trusts" owned and operated by a few
families.
The prime example was the Standard Oil Trust owned by John D.
Rockefeller.
Interestingly, in the United States and in some other
countries around the world, the large oil trusts were broken up by the
government. In today's world, the mammoth companies that have come into
existence because of the merger of oil companies far exceed the assets and
holdings of the oil trusts that were dismantled a few generations ago.
In the 21st century, the vast majority of oil companies in
operation have enjoyed significant profits. This definitely has been the case
with the major oil companies that have been mentioned previously and that
dominate the list of the top ten biggest companies in the world at this point
in history.
Most industry insiders and analysts believe that the
revenues and profits enjoyed by major -- and smaller -- oil companies are
expected to continue to rise unabated into the foreseeable future. A minority
of industry analysts maintain that the governments of some countries (perhaps
even the United States) may be positioned to attempt to enact some sort of windfall
profits tax of the kind that was legislated into being in the 1970s.
However,
the belief that a tax on so-called windfall profits might be forthcoming in the
United States or elsewhere is a minority perspective.
1 komentar:
Plus commercial information services or Plus UAE is the best commercial agent in Abu Dhabi with most number of satisfied clients and partnerships at UAE
Posting Komentar