Reliance Industries regains top slot in Platts global ranking, elbows out ONGC

Reliance Industries has regained the top slot among Indian energy companies on the Platts global list by surpassing state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) in the rankings for this year.

In all, 14 Indian energy companies made it to the 2015 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings, a financial performance roster of publicly traded companies with assets greater than USD 5 billion.

State-owned hydroelectric power generator NHPC Ltd was a new entrant from India at rank 221, Platts said in a statement.

“RIL, which was pushed to the No. 2 position in 2014 by ONGC, not only regained its premier slot among Indian energy performers, but has also moved significantly higher relative to its overall global ranking last year,” it said.

The company improved its overall ranking to 14 from 22 in 2014. ONGC too improved its position to 17 from 21 previously.

“The largest pure coal mining company in the world, Coal India, has climbed to 38th place in the rankings this year from 47th place last year.

“The state miner’s challenge has been keeping up with strong internal demand and achieving the coal ministry’s ambitious extraction targets. Coal India replaced Indian Oil Corp for the No. 3 position this year, among India companies,” it said.

NTPC was the fourth highest ranked Indian company at number 56, followed by Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (59) and Indian Oil Corp (66). IOC was ranked 43rd in 2014.

Gas utility GAIL India Ltd which was ranked 97 in 2014, slipped to 120th position, while Cairn India Ltd slipped to 139 from 104.

“With the first-time showing of NHPC Ltd in the Top 250 Rankings, India scored a personal best in representation, with 14 energy companies on 2015 list, versus 13 a year ago,” the statement said.

Rankings are based on assets, revenues, profits and return on invested capital for the prior fiscal year.

Global giants Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell plc occupied the top three slots while Chinese firm CNOOC Ltd for the first time broke into top five at No.4. PetroChina was a close fifth.

“Not one, but two Chinese energy giants, CNOOC Ltd and PetroChina Company Ltd, moved into the Top 5 for the first time since the rankings began in 2002. The state-backed companies have rivalled Big Oil of the West for years, with PetroChina having appeared in the Top 10 for 11 years, and CNOOC Ltd hovering in the 13th and 12th spots for the last several years,” Platts said.

India, the second largest Asian demand power house, saw its energy consumption hit an all-time high. With the fastest growth in energy consumption for the last five years, more coal, LNG and oil were required.

“However, most Indian energy companies saw their growth rates ebb. Only two firms – Power Grid Corp and Essar Oil – placed on the list of top 50 fastest growing companies this year, down from seven a year ago,” Platts said.

Power Grid Corp of India, ranked 129th globally, is the fastest growing Indian energy company and over the last two years (No. 142 in 2014, No. 139 in 2013) has made significant gains in their rankings.