This Is One Very Big Company…….

Posted By on October 6, 2009

Exxon Mobil Passes PetroChina as World’s Most Valuable Company

By Joe Carroll

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp. overtook PetroChina Co. as the world’s most valuable company, ending a four-month reign by the Beijing-based oil producer after price controls in China failed to keep pace with rising crude costs.

State-controlled PetroChina’s Shanghai-traded shares have declined 2.2 percent since Sept. 2, when the Chinese government last raised domestic prices for gasoline and diesel. Exxon Mobil rose 0.7 percent in the same period to a market capitalization of $330 billion, compared with $325.4 billion for PetroChina.

Oil futures traded in New York have jumped 59 percent this year, heading for the biggest gain in a decade amid signs that demand for petroleum-based fuels such as gasoline is rebounding after a recession-driven collapse. China has allowed filling stations to raise gasoline and diesel prices this year by 19 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

China, which ranks behind only the U.S. in energy consumption, on Sept. 30 withdrew 37 percent of the fuel-price increase granted on Sept. 2. The government has raised fuel prices four times and lowered them on three occasions this year under a system introduced in December to take into account fluctuations in the costs for oil purchased by refiners, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. The government policy allows prices to be changed when crude costs fluctuate more than 4 percent over 22 working days.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil, which traces it roots to the 1880s and John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust, lost the top ranking to PetroChina in May after China’s stimulus plan caused a surge in the nation’s stocks.

PetroChina’s 14 percent return on capital is less than half of Exxon Mobil’s 36 percent return, the highest among the world’s biggest 10 oil companies by sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Exxon Mobil’s annual sales are more than twice those of PetroChina. The company had $425 billion in sales last year, or $60.45 for every man, woman and child on the planet.

More…..http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_hHYY2kw07M

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