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| Iran National Oil Company, the biggest oil company in the world |
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Iran National Oil Company, as measured by reserves, is heading the biggest oil companies in the world.
State-owned oil companies are a rising force in the global energy sector as private rivals such as BP and Total seek access to new supplies and push to expand their markets.
More than half of the world's top energy firms, 28 out of 50, are fully state-owned, and these National Oil Companies (NOCs) control almost 80 percent of crude reserves, according to industry publication Petroleum Economist.
Heading the biggest companies, as measured by reserves, are NOCs from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. ExxonMobil, the first entirely-private energy group or International Oil Company (IOC) in the top 50, comes in at 11th position.
IOCs such as British energy giant BP, which is the 15th-biggest company in terms of oil reserves, are relying on closer links with NOCs to gain access to huge oil reserves in Gulf countries and Russia.
BP chief executive Bob Dudley recently described Russia as a favourable environment for foreign investment, despite his group's recently collapsed deal with Russian state oil giant Rosneft over exploration in the Arctic.
However, Dudley also acknowledged that "like trees, partnerships (between NOCs and IOCs) take time to bear fruits."
The chairman of state-owned Kuwait Oil Company, Sami al-Rushaid, recently acknowledged that NOC-IOC tie-ups, were a delicate balancing act.
"We need to explain that we act in the interests of our countries" and not the shareholders of private companies.
But he also stressed that such partnerships were essential if NOCs and IOCs were to keep down their costs.
"It's increasingly difficult and costly to develop oil and gas production," said al-Rushaid, whose company has struck an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to enhance technology used to secure oil from reservoirs.
"Our ageing reservoirs need use of customised EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) technologies to extend their like and keep production levels," al-Rushaid told a recent energy conference held in London.
"Partnerships are critical to sustain technological innovation. It's vital to have a joint effort on technologies. We are proud of what we do now with Shell on the reservoirs technologies."
(Source:dailystar.com.lb)
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