KRONMAN, GEORGE E., and KAREN D. SMITH, Amoco Oil Production Company, Chicago, IL

ABSTRACT: The Rise of National Oil Companies: The New "Seven Sisters"?

National Oil Companies (NOCs) increasingly represent an important part of the global petroleum industry. The majority of the world's largest oil companies are NOCs, and there are at least 75 NOCs worldwide. As a group, they control the vast majority of the world's oil supply and refining capacity, a large number of the world's premier frontier exploration basins, and an increasing share of international downstream markets.

A national oil company is defined here as an organization engaged in the upstream and/or downstream portions of the petroleum industry, whose activities are controlled by a government and which serves the national interest. Four different categories of NOCs can be identified, depending upon whether a given NOC is from a net oil-importing or exporting country, and whether it is from a developing or developed country. Each category of NOCs shares a unique set of goals, objectives and strategies.

Most NOC's are attempting to become more internationally and commercially oriented, and vertically integrated. Factors prompting this growth include the need for oil-importing NOCs to acquire oil supplies outside of their own borders, and for oil-exporting NOCs to secure reliable demand for their product through downstream outlets.

Each of the four categories of NOC's have different strengths and weaknesses which could provide private companies with a variety of potentially beneficial opportunities, particularly joint ventures.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90987©1993 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25-28, 1993.