Supermajor

Mr. Freeman prefers smaller yet still diversified companies with stronger growth profiles than the supermajors, like Apache, which has interests in natural gas as well as oil, and Occidental Petroleum, which produces oil, gas and chemicals. […] “The supermajors are still a great place to be because they’re starting to bring large projects on line that have been years in the making,” she said.

Not surprisingly, the oil “supermajors” and the IEA disagree. […] Currently, Exxon Mobil vies with Apple as the world’s biggest listed company. Yet Exxon and the other oil supermajors are more vulnerable than they look (see article).

International oil companies operating in Africa range from the supermajors to majors, the still smaller independents, and finally the lean frontier specialists that operate in emerging producers.