State-owned companies control most of the world’s oil and natural gas reserves. It is a common misconception that the publicly listed western oil giants like Exxon Mobil(XOM), Chevron(CVX), Shell(SHEL), BP(BP), Total SA (TOT), etc. are the oil and gas giants. Together these companies have even earned the moniker “Big Oil”. However that is not true. Government-owned firms known as the National Oil Companies or NOCs dominate the global energy market. The following chart shows the largest oil companies in the world by reserves.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co called as Saudi Aramco was listed on the domestic market a while ago but just 1.73% of the company was listed. The rest is still owned by the state. It trades on the TADAWUL market under the ticker 2222. At over $8.0 Trillion currently it is the largest company in the world in terms of market cap even higher than tech giant Apple(AAPL).
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The following chart shows the largest natural gas companies in the world by reserves:
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Source: Earnings in Perspective, American Petroleum Institute
Disclosure: No positions
