Reliance industry becomes world's third largest energy firm

Reliance Industries ltd has jumped five places to rank as the world's third-biggest energy company behind Russian gas firm Gazrpom and German utility E.ON, according to Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings.

State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) broke into the top 10 club, climbing to 7th position in the 2017 ranking, up from 14th rank in 2016. IOC has been steadily climbing the rankings -- it was placed at No. 66 in 2015.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) was placed at 11th position in 2017 as against 20th in 2016.

"While 14 Indian energy companies made it to the S&P Global Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings, they were one short of the tally held last year," Platts said in a statement.

Reliance, the owner of world's biggest refinery complex, was ranked at 7th position in last year.

Coal India Ltd, the world's largest coal producer, was the only Indian firm to have slipped in the ranking - 45 in 2017, down from 38 in last year.

The other Indian firms in the ranking included Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (39), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (48), Power Grid Corp (81) and GAIL India Ltd (106).

Russia's Gazprom snagged the number 1 spot, ending US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil's 12-year reign at the top of the list (ExxonMobil holding within the lead ten at 9th place).

Among this year's biggest movers is E.ON, which climbed 112 places to 2nd place from 114th.

South Korea's Korea Electric Power is ranked 4th, followed by China Petroleum & Chemical and Russia's PJSC Lukoil.

The annual Top 250, published by S&P Global Platts, ranks companies based on financial performance using four key metrics: asset worth, revenues, profits, and return on invested capital. All companies on the list have assets greater than USD 5.5 billion.

"Coal's troubles were especially acute in Asia, with China's production falling by 7.9 per cent or 140 million tons of oil-equivalent (mtoe), a record decline. Those headwinds translated into swings in this year's Platts rankings for coal interests," the statement said reasoning Coal Indias slip.

Overall, thanks to the new entrants buoyed by utilities and pipelines, revenues of the Top 10 global energy companies surged more than 30 per cent to USD 1.1 trillion from USD 830.2 billion in the 2016 rankings.

Collectively, the world's top 10 companies posted combined profits of USD 63.7 billion last year, 14 per cent lower than the USD 74.3 billion posted the year before, it said.

The Top 250 profit figures are adjusted for preferred dividends and exclude discontinued operations and extraordinary operations.