Largest Oil and Gas Companies in the World by Revenue

Saudi Aramco is the largest oil and gas company in the world by revenue, with $604.3 billion in 2023, ahead of China's Sinopec at $478.5 billion and ExxonMobil at $413.6 billion. The ranking mixes state-owned giants, publicly traded majors and US refiners, so reading it well means knowing what revenue does and does not measure.

This article lists the top 10 companies, explains why they rank where they do and shows how the list changes if you measure something other than sales.

Largest Oil and Gas Companies at a Glance

The table uses the most recent full year in the Wikipedia list of the largest oil and gas companies by revenue, which is 2023. Figures are in US dollars.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has no 2023 figure in the list. It reported $435.1 billion in 2022, which would have placed it second that year. Treat any ranking that includes or omits CNPC with care.

Why Saudi Aramco Ranks First

Aramco combines low-cost crude production with large downstream and chemicals operations, and it sells at a scale few rivals can match. Its revenue is more than $125 billion above the next company on the list. The Saudi state is the controlling shareholder, which is why the company is usually described as state-owned although it is listed on the Saudi stock exchange.

For more on its history, reserves and strategy, read our Saudi Aramco company profile.

State-Owned Giants vs Publicly Traded Majors

The top 10 contains three kinds of companies.

• State-owned or state-controlled: Saudi Aramco and Sinopec. Their priorities blend commercial return with national energy policy.
• Integrated majors: ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies, BP and Chevron. They run exploration, production, refining, chemicals and marketing, and they report to public shareholders.
• Refiners: Marathon Petroleum, Valero and Phillips 66. They earn money from the margin between crude cost and fuel prices, so large revenue does not mean they produce much oil.

The Wikipedia page does not label ownership, so the grouping above follows the sourcing notes on the page and public company information.

What Revenue Does and Does Not Tell You

Revenue measures sales, not profit, production or reserves. A refiner can post huge sales with thin margins. A producer can have lower revenue and far higher profit per barrel. Prices also move the ranking: a year of high oil and gas prices lifts every company, and changes in refining margins can push refiners up or down the list.

If you want a fuller picture, compare at least four numbers: revenue, net income, daily production in barrels of oil equivalent and proven reserves. Production and reserves show how much resource a company controls. Net income shows how well it converts sales into profit. Market capitalisation shows what investors believe the business is worth.

Regional Patterns: Gulf, China, US and Europe

Four regions dominate the list. The Gulf is represented by Aramco, whose upstream scale is unmatched. China appears through Sinopec and, in other years, CNPC, reflecting the size of domestic fuel demand. The United States contributes five companies, three of which are refiners. Europe contributes Shell, TotalEnergies and BP, which have widened into LNG, power and renewables.

That last point matters for the future of the ranking. European majors have pushed into gas, power trading and low-carbon projects, while US majors have leaned on upstream growth and shale. Both strategies change how revenue is earned, even if the headline list stays similar.

How the Ranking Could Change

Three forces can reshuffle the table. First, price swings: a fall in crude or gas prices cuts revenue quickly. Second, mergers and asset sales: large deals move production and reserves between companies. Third, the energy transition: companies that grow in LNG, power and renewables will report revenue from new lines, while others may shrink their oil sales.

Watch also for the data year. The list above uses 2023. When a 2024 or 2025 column appears in the source, the order of ranks 3 to 7 is the most likely to shift, because those companies sit close together.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Largest Oil and Gas Companies

Which is the biggest oil company in the world? By 2023 revenue, Saudi Aramco, at $604.3 billion.

Is ExxonMobil bigger than Shell? By 2023 revenue yes: $413.6 billion against $386.2 billion.

Why is CNPC missing from the top 10? The source list has no 2023 figure for it. Its 2022 revenue was $435.1 billion.

Does a higher revenue mean a better company? Not necessarily. Profit, production, reserves and debt tell a different story.

Key Terms Used in Oil and Gas Rankings

Rankings of the largest energy companies rely on vocabulary that is easy to misread. Upstream means exploration and production: finding oil and gas and bringing it to the surface. Midstream covers transport and storage, including pipelines, tankers and terminals. Downstream covers refining, petrochemicals and fuel retail. An integrated major has meaningful activity in several of these stages, while a pure refiner or a pure producer concentrates on one.

Ownership labels matter too. A national oil company (NOC) is controlled by a government, often with a wider mandate than profit alone. An international oil company (IOC) is usually publicly listed and answers to shareholders. The two types can report similar revenue and still behave very differently when oil prices fall, because a state owner may support investment for strategic reasons while a listed company must justify spending to investors.

Finally, do not confuse revenue with profit or market value. Revenue is total sales before costs. Profit is what remains after costs and taxes. Market capitalisation is the value the stock market assigns to a listed company's shares. A refiner can post very high revenue because it handles huge volumes of crude and products, yet earn thin margins on each barrel.

How Readers Can Use This Ranking

For job seekers, the ranking is a map of where large employers sit and which segments of the industry they emphasise. A refining-heavy company hires differently from an upstream-focused one, and a state-owned giant may recruit through national programmes. For students, it shows which companies publish technical papers, run graduate schemes and operate in the countries they may want to work in.

For journalists and analysts, revenue rankings are a convenient starting point but should always be paired with production volumes, reserves and margins. For investors, a revenue list is not a recommendation; it says nothing about valuation or risk, and The Daily Energy does not provide investment advice. Always check the latest company filings and the date of the source data before drawing conclusions.

Conclusion

Saudi Aramco leads the world's oil and gas companies by revenue, followed by Sinopec and ExxonMobil, with refiners filling the bottom of the top 10. Use revenue as a first filter, then check profit, production and reserves before judging any company. Follow The Daily Energy for company profiles that compare these measures side by side.

Source: Wikipedia, List of largest oil and gas companies by revenue (2023 figures; accessed 4 Nov 2026). Ownership grouping is inferred from the page's sourcing notes.