The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announced on
Thursday that it had overtaken US giant Chevron and France's Total
to become the world's seventh largest oil firm in 2005.
The annual ranking was compiled by the US-based Petroleum
Intelligence Weekly using six indices including oil and gas
reserves, oil and gas output and sales volume.
The CNPC has been listed in the world's 10 largest oil firms for
six straight years and stayed in ninth place in 2004. It
is also the only Chinese oil firm in the top 10.
Sources with CNPC called the company's rising position a boost
from growing oil and gas reserves abroad.
In August 2005, the largest oil producer in China was approved
to acquire Canada-based PetroKazakhstan Inc. (PK) for US$4.18
billion. This constitutes the largest overseas takeover transaction
ever undertaken by a Chinese company. It is an important step for
China to diversify its overseas oil business geologically by
diversifying away from traditional partners in the Middle East and
Africa to Central Asia.
In the latest ranking, Saudi Arabia Oil Company remained the
world's largest followed by Exxon Mobil headquartered in the United
States. The National Iranian Oil Company replaced Petroleos de
Venezuela SA to become the third biggest while British firm BP
placed fifth.
Twenty-seven of the top 50 are state-owned oil firms whose
aggregate crude oil and natural gas reserves account for 91 percent
of those shared by the top 50.
The top 50 possess 85 percent of the world's crude oil reserves
and produced 81 percent of the world's total. Their equivalent
natural gas reserves took up 64 percent of the world's total with
output at 68 percent.
The Petroleum Intelligence Weekly started the rankings 20
years ago.
(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2007)