One indicator of increased globalization and the growing importance of the European Union is the growing number of oil companies which are choosing  European cities the site of their headquarters. 

While the oil business is clearly global, there are complex issues related to customs, currency and language differences that present challenges in delivering systems that facilitate transactions across international boundaries.  The result of these challenges is that very few exchanges are currently completing international transactions. 

However, the continued growth of globalization and the economic benefits to be gained will provide great incentive for companies offering e-commerce solutions and oil companies to searching for business solutions overcome these hurdles. 

The following synopsis of the world’s top five public oil and gas companies (based on market capitalization) is designed to articulate three points:  1) the tremendous global reach of the companies; 2) the proliferation of joint venture and partner relationships which exist throughout the industry; and 3) the fragmentation of the industry into discrete business areas, increasing the numbers of buyers and sellers.  These three factors are indicators of the immense need for collaborative e-business process tools to serve this industry. 
 

ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil Corporation operates in more than 200 countries around the world.  The downstream business is organized into four companies: Refining & Supply, Fuels Marketing, Lubricants & Petroleum Specialties and Research and Engineering.  In 1998, operations of the ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Company spanned 200 countries and generated more than $100 billion in revenues.  This segment of the company operates over 40 owned and joint venture refineries and more than 350 owned and joint venture terminals throughout the world. 

The Fuels Marketing segment supplies fuel to retail customers, industrial and wholesale customers, and aviation and marine customers.  This business operates more than 40,000 services stations across 118 countries.  Interestingly, just 4% of these companies are company-operated and just one third are company-owned.  The global Aviation operations extend to 84 countries and over 700 airports.  Marine operations are similarly globalized, reaching into 150 ports across 62 countries. 

The Lubricants and Petroleum Specialties segment makes over 2,000 products to fill needs for synthetic lubricants in  vehicles of all types, industrial operations, asphalt, etc.    Its operations span 194 countries. 

The Research & Engineering group works with business partners to identify and apply new process, product, and engineering technology to the company’s worldwide businesses. 

Royal Dutch/Shell

Previous to the consolidation of ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell was the largest oil and gas company in the world.  Currently number two in the world, the company has operations in over 135 countries, including 46,000 gas stations worldwide.  The company is the product of a successful joint venture between Royal Dutch Petroleum (60%) and Shell Transport and Trading (40%). The company has undertaken a restructuring and cost-cutting initiative in order to remain competitive in the industry.
 

BP Amoco

Ranking third in terms of the world’s largest oil and gas businesses, BP Amoco
operates plants throughout the world, including the U.S., Britain, Belgium, France, and Germany. The company also participates in joint venture operations in China, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia. The company’s operations. Over 70% of the company’s profits are generated in Europe and the U.S. and the company is participating in developments in Africa, South America, Asia, and the Caspian region to extend its reach and competitive position.

TotalfinaElf 

TotalfinaElf has a presence in over 100 countries and  participates in the operation of 29 refineries and over 20,000 service stations located primarily throughout Europe and Africa.  The company has a major player in the European refining and marketing area and its business focuses on petrochemicals, performance chemicals, and specialty chemicals, focused on industrial rubber processing and coatings (paints, resins, adhesives, and metallization).  Along with being the 4th largest oil company in the world, TotalfinaElf is also the number one producer of thiochemicals and the number two producer of fluorochemicals, adhesives, and resins. 

Chevron

Chevron explores and produces crude oil and natural gas in the United States, Nigeria, Canada, the North Sea, Australia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, the Republic of Congo, Thailand, China, Papua New Guinea, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Qatar and others.  Chevron’s worldwide operations encompass 25 countries.  In the U.S., the company operates over 7,900 gasoline stations primarily in the West and South.  The company is also a leading seller of aviation fuels throughout the West.  Particular areas of emphasis for the company are asphalt and heavy-duty and industry oils.  Chevron is the leading seller of asphalt throughout the U.S. and the leading marketer of heavy-duty and industry oils in North America. 

Chevron also has 50% ownership of Caltex which operates in 60 countries throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East.  In addition to the operation of 8,000 service stations throughout the Asia-Pacific region, Caltex also operates over 500 ocean terminals, refineries, asphalt plants, and lubricating oil plants. 

The petrochemicals segment of Chevron also operates globally with direct operations or affiliate and subsidiary operations in over 80 countries.  New facilities are currently being added in Saudi Arabia and China. 

In 1993, Chevron teamed with the Republic of Kazakhstan in a joint venture to develop the Tengiz oil field, the largest discovery in the past 30 years.  The agreement was, at the time, the largest joint venture between a Western company and a member country of the former Soviet Union.