https://lnkd.in/gXyiBVm3
Seen this article been shared all over social media. Among other things (which I won't go into here), the author makes a point that certain listed oil and gas firms, headquartered in developed countries, are somehow (1) the world's "largest oil and gas producers" and (2) together called the "Seven Sisters".
We might thank the author for his calculations and for sharing his opinion, but with all due respect I see two issues in connection with (1) and (2) above.
First, the term "Seven Sisters" (as used by the author) does not seem to cover non-listed and/or State-owned oil and gas producers, some of which are much larger than the publicly traded ones. Two of the countless examples: Saudi Aramco (c.12Mbpd) and Petronas (2.5Mbpd). For context, Exxon's Q4 2023 production is about 3.8Mbpd. The comparison that the authors makes is therefore flawed because his sample is not complete.
Second, the term "Seven Sisters" used by the author needs some context. This term, as I understand, was coined after World War Two in a very different historical context compared to where we are now. The then-"Seven Sisters" dominated the oil industry globally from exploration, transportation, refining to distribution. Also the term "Sisters" back then had some meaning too - just look at the Standard Oil offshoots in the original Seven Sisters. As far as I understand, there has been no consensus as to whether the original "seven sisters" carry over to today (how many oil and gas M&A, restructuring, bankruptcy, etc. can you think of?). The author's use of the term "Seven Sisters" in 2024 without further context seems quite odd.
Some book references: The Prize (Daniel Yergin), The World for Sale (Javier Blas and Jack Farchy)
Disclosure: No AI was used for anything in the above.
Awesome! Wishing her all the best with her work in the energy industry! 🙌