The OGJ200 group of companies recorded a decline in earnings last year as greater expenses ate into returns. The collective 2.5% dip in net income accompanied a 7% swell in revenues. High costs for labor, equipment, and supplies underpinned the group's capital and exploration spending, and the number of wells drilled climbed.

The group's natural gas production and reserves moved higher from a year earlier, but liquids production and reserves totals were mixed.

There are 147 companies that qualified for this edition of the OGJ200. Last year, the number rose to 144 from an all-time low of 138.

Table 1

SOME KEY CHANGES FROM 2007 OGJ200

OGJ began publishing this compilation in 1983 as the OGJ400, featuring the top 400 US-based, publidy traded oil and gas producing firms.

The total assets of the firms at the end of 2007 were $1.06 trillion, and their combined stockholders' equity was $487.8 billion. Capital and exploratory expenditures totaled $126 billion, up 11% from the group's 2006 outlays. US net wells drilled climbed 5%.

Changes to the group

Some of the companies in the group are new to the list, and some have changed their names since the previous edition of the OGJ200. Some no longer appear after being acquired or because of other reasons.

Based in South Lake, Tex., Harken Energy Corp. changed its name and now appears in the compilation as HKN Inc. Meanwhile, San Antonio-based Exploration Co. changed its name to TXCO Resources Inc. Panhandle Oil & Gas Inc., meanwhile, previously was listed as Panhandle Royalty Co.

Two of the firms that appeared last year were acquired by other companies and are no longer listed separately. These are Houston Exploration Co., which Forest Oil Corp. acquired, and Pogo Producing Co., which was acquired by Plains Exploration & Production Co.

Table 2

TOP 20 IN TOTAL REVENUE

Table 3

TOP 20 IN ASSETS-MARKET CAPITALIZATION1

TOP COMPANIES IN RETURN ON...*

Dominion Exploration & Production was reorganized by its parent company and is now listed as Dominion Energy Inc.

Five companies that were previously included in the OGJ200 no longer appear because they sold their producing properties in the US, liquidated their assets, or were bought by entities based outside the US. These include Challenger Minerals Inc., Hallador Petroleum Co., Peoples Energy Production, Toreador Resources Corp., and United Heritage Corp.

The 2007 results of two of the companies that qualify for the compilation were not available at presstime, so those companies' results are excluded from group totals. These companies are Ness Energy International Inc. and PRB Energy Inc.

Thirteen companies appear in the OGJ200 for the first time. The highestranking of these, Exco Resources Inc., sits at No. 21 by yearend-2007 assets. Exco, with headquarters in Dallas, became publicly traded with an initial public offering in 2006.

There are five royalty trusts in the compilation, down from six in the previous OGJ200. There are also five subsidiaries, induding Dominion Energy Inc., Seneca Resources Corp., Fidelity Exploration & Production Co., Equitable Supply, and DTE Gas & Oil Co.

Table 4

20 FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES1

Table 5

TOP 20 IN NET INCOME AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

Annual results

As the capital spending and drilling efforts of the OGJ200 companies increased last year, their production and reserves totals mostly moved upward.

The combined capital and exploration expenditures of the group increased 11% to $ 126 billion. Up 5% from 2006, the number of US net wells drilled by the group totaled 23,065.

The number of active rigs in the US climbed 7% last year, according to Baker Hughes Inc. At the same time, the rig count in Canada increased 12%, and the worldwide number of active rigs grew 4%, according to American Petroleum Institute.

Capital outlays varied widely among the companies in the survey. Such spending during 2007 by top-ranked ExxonMobil Corp. was up 5% from a year earlier, but No. 2 ConocoPhillips posted a 24% decline in capital spending.