The term supermajor illustrates the six largest, non state-owned energy companies, as seen in popular financial mediums around the world. Trading under various names around the world, they are considered to be: [1]
ExxonMobil (XOM)
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS)
BP (BP)
Chevron Corporation (CVX)
ConocoPhillips (COP)
Total S.A. (TOT)
The supermajors began to appear in the late 1990s, in response to a severe deflation in oil prices. Large petroleum companies began to merge, often in an effort to improve economies of scale, hedge against oil price volatility, and reduce large cash reserves through reinvestment.[2] Exxon and Mobil (1999), BP and Amoco (1998), Total and Petrofina (1999) and subsequently Elf Aquitaine (2000), Chevron and Texaco (2001), and Conoco Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Company (2002) all merged between 1998 and 2002. The result of this trend created some of the largest global corporations as defined by the Forbes Global 2000 ranking, and as of 2007 all are within the top 25.
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