Leading U.S. oil and gas producers based on market cap June 2024
ExxonMobil ranks first among the United States' top ten oil and gas producing companies based on market capitalization. As of June 14, 2024, the Texas-based oil supermajor had a market cap of 497.62 billion U.S. dollars. ExxonMobil can not only trace its roots back to the early years of commercial oil production, it has also become one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world. It is active in all areas of the supply chain, from hydrocarbon extraction to retailing of gasoline.
What is market cap?
As opposed to sales or assets, market capitalization is a metric used to determine a company’s size by the worth of their outstanding shares on the stock market. For example, despite ExxonMobil ranking as the leading oil and gas company based on market cap worldwide, state-owned entities such as Russia's Gazprom and Brazil's Petrobras often rank as the top global oil and gas company based on net income. The differing ratios exemplify how market cap is not a hard figure like net profits, but inflates and fluctuates according to the perceived value of a company, influenced by less quantifiable factors.
The role of oil and gas in the world economy
The oil and gas industry is involved in exploration, extraction, refining, transport, and marketing of hydrocarbons. Many industries are extremely dependent on oil and gas products, mostly in the form of fuels or raw materials for chemical products. The oil and gas industry is one of the largest worldwide, and it would follow that companies involved within the industry are among the top companies worldwide by revenue.