Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has retained its position as the highest-ranked Indian company on the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list, according to the latest rankings released by the publication. The oil-to-telecom-and-retail conglomerate has been ranked at No.88 on the latest list, down from 86th position in 2024.
'Granting the country's highest civilian honour to Prime Minister Modi was surprising as it indicated the government was going out of its way to have India as a close partner.'
Taking Indo-Chinese co-operation in the oil sector a step forward, the country's biggest oil refiner and retailer, Indian Oil Corporation, has signed a memorandum of understanding with integrated Chinese national oil company Sinopec.
Though OVL has made a solo bid of about $2.5 billion for takeover of Russia-focused Imperial Energy, the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation may rope in a company like Rosneft to win Moscow's approval for the acquisition, London-based investment banking sources said. OVL is mindful that no company can be successful in taking over a company having assets in Russia unless it has the backing of Moscow.
The 50:50 joint venture of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and China's Sinopec has acquired Columbian oil firm Omimex de Columbia for $850 million.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the foreign arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, may tie-up with Chinese firm Sinopec to make a joint bid for at least 50 per cent stake in a Colombian oil field.
The oil industry experienced three upheavals between 1973 and 1991, which seem to be etched in the memory of the industry's decision makers. Naturally, at the sign of a new crisis, the decision makers like to dip into those tumultuous decades to find ways to deal with the new shock, in addition, of course, to expert reports and forecasts. So, the industry bigwigs turned the pages of history to get a peek into the future of oil price movements after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Israel attacked Gaza in 2023, Iran-linked Houthi rebels pounded tankers crossing the Red Sea in support of Palestine the same year, and Iran rained missiles on Israel in 2024.
This is the highest any Indian company has been ranked on the Fortune Global 500 list.
An Airbus A320, owned by China Eastern Airlines, landed at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport this morning after completing an 85-minute journey using Sinopec's new aviation fuel, the company said in a statement.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd slipped 59 places to rank 155th on the 2021 Fortune Global 500 list released on Monday. Reliance took a beating on the rankings as revenues dropped owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is its lowest ranking since 2017. Walmart continues to top the Fortune list with a revenue of $524 billion, followed by China's State Grid at $384 billion.
The fast-food giant is building drive-through restaurants in China and selling curry dishes in India to get a bigger share of the Asian market.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of state-owned ONGC, and Chinese firm Sinopec have jointly won the bid to acquire Columbian oil firm Omimex de Columbia.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries is reported to have held talks with Saudi Aramco on a cash and share deal for sale of a 20 per cent stake in its oil refining and petrochemical arm. Ambani had in August 2019 announced talks for the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business, which comprises its twin oil refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat and petrochemical assets, to the world's largest oil exporter. The deal was to conclude by March 2020 but has been delayed for reasons not disclosed by either company.
Output in the first half of the year was 101.59 million tonnes.
After missing two self-imposed deadlines, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday announced recalibration of a proposed $15 billion deal to sell 20 per cent stake in its oil refinery and petrochemical business to Saudi Aramco, saying the two firms have agreed to re-evaluate the proposed investment in light of the Indian firm's new energy forays. The stake sale talks, which were first officially revealed in August 2019, are being reset in light of Reliance making forays into new energy business in recent months by investing $10 billion in alternative energy over three years. To pivot to green energy, it has already bought a German maker of photovoltaic solar wafers and signed a deal with a Danish company to manufacture hydrogen electrolysers in India.
A fall in crude oil price and Aramco's $75 billion annual dividend commitment may have delayed Saudi company picking a stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's oil-to-chemical unit (O2C), research firm Jefferies said. Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani had in August 2019 announced talks for the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the O2C business, which comprises its twin oil refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat and petrochemical assets, to the world's largest oil exporter. The deal was to conclude by March 2020 but has been delayed for reasons not disclosed by either company.
In an effort to stem a possible counter-bid by China's Sinopec and others, ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas exploration subsidiary of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, has through its advisor Deutsche Bank approached the large institutional investors of Imperial Energy to acquire their holdings.
India is being increasingly marginalised in Iran's energy sector for reasons which range from political to economic. Its attempts at securing oil and gas blocks in the country and importing gas (as LNG and through a pipeline) seem to be hitting a dead end. The latest setback for India is the agreement between Iran and Chinese Sinopec for the Yadavaran oil and gas field. This effectively pushes out ONGC Videsh - the government's overseas acquisition vehicle.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of India's largest oil producer, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, is holding talks with the Iranian government for exploring an oil block in the northern part of the country. Chinese company Sinopec is also believed to be in the race for the block. This could not be independently confirmed. The block is near the Caspian Sea.
Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani-led RIL was the top private sector company from the country as it jumped from 203rd rank last year to 148th.
It is rare for Cabinet ministers to tick off state-owned companies publicly, yet that was what then petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan did for ONGC. Speaking at an event on June 29, Pradhan said he has asked India's premier exploration company to find fresh oil acreages fast. "Do it yourself through some joint venture (or) through a new business model. But the government cannot permit you to hold resources for an indefinite time." The reason for this stricture is India's rising dependence on imported oil and gas. Or, to put it another way, falling domestic production (see chart: "Crude truth"), especially from ONGC, which faces a simple problem.
GAIL (India) Limited on Thursday signed three sweeping memoranda of understanding with as many Chinese companies in the oil and gas sector in both countries
China has completed the 1,000-km oil pipeline to oil-rich Kazakhstan, boosting the communist giant's energy security.\n\n
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has lost out on a bid for an oil block in Angola to a Chinese-led consortium.
Fresh from losing a prime property in Angola, ONGC Videsh has sought greater freedom in bidding for oil and gas assets abroad and a rethink on the mechanism of approval of its investment proposals.
Indian Oil Corporation has been ranked as the number one oil trading company amongst national oil companies in the Asia Pacific region.\n
Other shortlisted chief executives include Abdulrahman Ali Al-Abdulla of Muntajat, Peabody Energy's Gregory Boyce, Pailin Chuchottaworn of PTT Public Company Ltd, Repsol's Antonio Brufau and Ian Taylor of Vitol.
Indian Oil Corp is ranked highest at 161st in the Fortune 500 list.
Reliance Industries has doubled the average life of its debt to around 7.5 years.
Companies are ranked by total revenues.
They have been named for their stake in the Farsi offshore block.
In all, 61 companies have been pre-qualified to bid for 11 shallow water and 19 deepwater blocks in an international tender, according to Myanmar's Energy Ministry.
The US Government Accountability Office, in a recently released report, moved ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, and three others, including Petronet LNG Ltd, out of the list.
India is the 4th largest oil consumer after the US, China and Japan.
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