).
It is difficult to understate the magnitude of the companies that participate in this industry. In 2001, five of the largest publicly held companies in the world were oil and gas companies: Exxon Mobil--$191 billion in revenue, British Petroleum--$174 billion in revenue, Royal Dutch Shell--$135 billion in revenue, ChevronTexaco--$99 billion in revenue, and Total Fina--$94 billion in revenue. All of these companies were also among the top 50 in terms of profits, and three of the five--ChevronTexaco and TotalFina failed to make the cut--were in the top ten ("Global 5" F-1).
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