Essar Energy Plc is ranked amongst 50 fastest growing companies where Cairn India is the fourth fastest growing company. Half of the top 10 spots in the 2011 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings went to major oil and gas companies based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The roster, now in its 10th year and announced Wednesday night at an awards dinner in Singapore, includes 79 EMEA companies, a 25% increase over the past decade.
“The composition of companies on the Platts Top 250 roster has shifted considerably in the last 10 years, but the EMEA’s consistent strong standing on the list underscores the region’s dedication to growth, even amid global economic turmoil, a changing regulatory environment, the Eastern European reconstruction and periods of mega-mergers,” said Ross McCracken, editor of Platts Energy Economist.
With a three-year compounded growth rate (CGR) of 116.5 percent, Cairn was ranked by energy information provider Platts as the fastest growing E&P company in 2010.
It was also named the fastest growing Asian company ahead of Reliance (ranked 18th in Asia) and state-owned GAIL India Ltd (ranked 20th) in the Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings.
Cairn made its maiden entry at 120th rank in the overall global energy company list, which was topped by US giant Exxon Mobil Corp.
For the 2011 rankings, Platts ranked listed energy firms on the basis of their financial performance in 2010.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which was in 2010 ranked 18th in the list of the 250 top global energy firms, slipped to 21st position in the 2011 rankings. Reliance settled at 24th position in the 2011 list, down from 13th rank in the 2010 Platts Ranking.
However, 47 companies represent Western European countries – five less than when the Platts roster began in 2002. Of the other top-ranking EMEA companies, 20 come from the Russia and Poland and five are based in the Middle East and Africa.
The 2011 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings recognize the fiscal 2010 financial performance of publicly held energy companies based on a combination of assets, revenues, profits and return on invested capital (ROIC). The rankings are developed using financial data from S&P Capital IQ, which, like Platts, is a part of The McGraw-Hill Companies. To be ranked, companies must have assets greater than U.S. $3.5 billion and must be publicly listed.
Indian Oil gained 36 positions to 42nd place in this year's list. Coal India entered the list at 51st position, while power producer NTPC slipped to 58th rank from 52nd position in 2010.
GAIL was ranked 109th in the 2011 list, down from 107th position in the previous year.
State refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) rose from 174th rank in 2010 to 142nd in 2011, while Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) settled at 143rd position, down from 94th in 2010.
Other Indian firms in the top 250 list include Tata Power (190), Powergrid Corp of India (201), NHPC (216) and Reliance Infrastructure (232).
EMEA’s lead energy firm within the Platts Top 250 global rankings was Russia’s gas giant OAO Gazprom, at third place, just behind U.S. majors, ExxonMobil and Chevron. Exxon has consecutively taken the top spot since 2005, and Chevron snagged second place in this year’s ranking, climbing seven rungs from a year ago.
While France’s Total SA held tight to its fifth place position for a third consecutive year, U.K.-registered Royal Dutch Shell jumped to sixth place from 10th. In fact, it was Shell that kept the U.K. in the top 10. Last year’s second-ranked BP p.l.c. sank to #118 on the 2011 list, owing to huge write-downs stemming from the April 2010 Macondo oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
The top 10 was rounded out by integrated oil and gas (IOG) firms OJSC Rosneft Oil Company at ninth and Lukoil of Russia at 10th, both advancing from the prior year, Rosneft by 5 positions and Lukoil by one.
In fact, no other EMEA country had more companies listed in the 2011 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings than Russia, which is represented by 15 firms, up from 11 a year earlier. Russia’s representation is up nearly three-fold since the rankings were first published in 2002. Interestingly, IOGs were not Russia’s only contributions; four of 15 energy companies were electric utilities, a result of the sector’s recent privatization.
“EMEA’s growth has come primarily from central and eastern Europe, reflecting the dismantling and reconstruction of the Soviet-era energy industry both in Russia and other former communist states,” said Ross McCracken, editor of Platts Energy Economist, who offers an in-depth analysis of the 2011 rankings in this just-released November issue of Platts’ Insight Magazine.
Poland, the European Union’s sixth most populous country, now has five companies in the Platts Top 250, up from just one firm a decade ago. Other Central and South East European countries represented in the 2011 Platts Top 250 ranks include the Czech Republic, Romania and Turkey, and Central Asia’s Kazakhstan.
Not only can EMEA boast growth in numbers of companies within the roster, but EMEA companies also scored roughly a third of the positions within the 2011 50 fastest growing companies based on three-year compound growth rates (CGR). U.K.-listed and Indian-owned Essar Energy Plc nabbed first place with a staggering three-year CGR of 199.5%. Saudi Arabia’s Rabigh Refining & Petrochemicals Company came in second with a three-year CGR of 167.5%.
Russia and Spain were both strong in the breakout of fastest growing, with seven and four companies, respectively. Eight of those eleven were utilities and independent power producers.
France, Italy, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates also made the Platts’ fastest growing list, with one company each.
An in-depth analysis of this year’s rankings by Ross McCracken, editor of Platts Energy Economist, is featured in the November issue of Platts Insight Magazine.
The Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings are based on data compiled and maintained by S&P Capital IQ, which, like Platts, is a part of The McGraw-Hill Companies. To be ranked, companies must have assets greater than US$3.5 billion and must be publicly listed.