A quick glance at the Fortune 500 list of top American companies reveals Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) at number two and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) at number three. Despite the slight decline in worldwide prices, it is a good time to be an oil giant, yet investors who are considering which company has the greater potential need support for their decisions.

Is Exxon or Chevron the better candidate for long-term oil supremacy? Exxon Mobil checks in at $450 billion in revenue (a $45 billion profit), while Chevron brings in $234 billion with just over $26 billion in profits. That gives Chevron a higher profit margin of 0.7 percent and Exxon Mobil a far greater market cap. For investors interested in dividends, Chevron offers 3.3 percent compared to 2.8 percent from Exxon Mobil. In the past year, Chevron stock has grown 25 percent versus Exxon Mobil’s 12.63 percent.

In Exxon Mobil’s corner, its year-over-year earnings beat expectations in the first quarter of 2013, while Chevron showed a decline of 4 percent. However, investors concerned about future growth should note that the majority of Exxon’s profits came from the refinery business while Chevron has been focused on increasing production and building up for the coming months and years. In that respect, the coming year looks bright for Chevron, provided it can put down the $19 billion lawsuit lingering in Ecuador.

The suit, which charged Chevron polluted Ecuadorian jungles prior to its exit from the country, has been marred by corrupt proceedings and shady practices at several points. Observers doubt that Chevron will be forced to pay out the money, which has sparked even more growth in shares (now up over 14 percent for 2013). Chevron might have found its path to victory there.

Likewise, its path to victory in the battle for oil supremacy will be tied to its ability to produce market-ready oil in the coming decade. Judging by the number of projects already in the works, Chevron has more potential than Exxon Mobil at the moment. Would Exxon Mobil be willing to invest big in order to level the playing field in new production? That’s a distinct possibility, but the greater upside now exists in Chevron’s corner.

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Late on Friday, the New York Stock Exchange canceled rogue Anadarko stock trades in the last second of the trading day that brought the stock down from a price of $90 per share to one cent per share in certain trades. Also, data from FactSet Research indicated erratic moves in the last hour of trading, with at least one sinking the price to below $20 per share, but the sudden drop to almost zero happened in the final second of trading. Shares closed Friday 2.2 percent higher at $90.03, as the corporation deferred comment to the NYSE, which began a “clearly erroneous execution review,” which it defines as “an execution with an obvious error in any term, such as price, number of shares or other unit of trading, or identification of the security,” and eventually canceled all trades at or below $87.56 a share in that last second.

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Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX): Closing price $123.42

A Petroleos de Venezuela official announced that it will permit joint ventures with China National Petroleum Corp. and Chevron so as  to manage $6 billion in loans created to reverse oil production declines. The government-owned producer made arrangements on terms of a $2-billion credit from Chevron for the Petroboscan venture, and a $4-billion loan from China Development Bank for Sinovensa, according to the official who was briefed on the talks, adding that the transaction will likely close in June.

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Transocean (NYSE:RIG): Closing price $54.03

Carl Icahn was dealt a defeat Friday by Transocean shareholders, who voted in favor of the firm’s $2.24-per-share annual dividend, turning aside a $4-proposal brought by the billionaire investor Icahn, according to a knowledgeable source, who also said that over 75 percent of all voted shares favored Transocean’s dividend. Transocean conducted its annual shareholder meeting Friday in Switzerland.

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James River Coal Company (NASDAQ:JRCC): Closing price $2.44

On Friday, James River said that it had entered into separate, privately negotiated exchange agreements, through which it will exchange an aggregate amount of roughly $243.4 million of existing senior convertible notes for $123.3 million of new senior convertible notes. Notes to be exchanged include $90 million of its 4.50 percent senior convertible notes due in 2015, and $153.4 million of its 3.125 percent senior convertible notes due in 2018. These notes will be exchanged for $123.3 million in aggregate principal of new 10-percent senior convertible notes due 2018.

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On Wednesday, Shell’s Nigerian unit SPDC declared force majeure on gas supplies to Nigeria LNG, after a reported gas leak on one of its pipelines Tuesday, according to a Shell Petroleum Development Company statement on Thursday. SPDC reported that the shutdown was presently impacting about 1.5 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day. Separately, NLNG said that the disrupted gas supply is equal to between 40 and 50 percent of its typical total gas intake, and that ”the shutdown will be in place until the source of the leak is identified, and necessary remedial actions are completed by SPDC to ensure safe operation.”

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BP (NYSE:BP): Closing price $42.75

The independent refiner Tesoro Corporation (NASDAQ:TSO) could take ownership of BP’s 240,000 barrels-per-day Carson, California, refinery, and 800-station retail network and distribution and storage assets as soon as June 1, according to inside sources on Thursday. When the $2.5-billion transaction is concluded, Tesoro will become the number-two refiner in California, which is the United States’ biggest gasoline market, and then BP’s U.S. downstream operation will be solely concentrated upon refineries in the northern continental United States, where cheaper Canadian crude oil is easily gotten.

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Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK): Closing price $19.89

In a Thursday report, analyst Joseph Allman at JPMorgan (NYSE:JCP) downgraded shares from Overweight to Neutral, but kept the $20 price target. Allman wrote in part in the report, “For CHK, the Era of Reckless Spending is over, in our view. But the market likely now knows that Chesapeake will be a more disciplined company in the future. Stock price performance relative to its peers probably relies on the result of asset sales as much as anything else. And we  have no visibility on the company executing better-than-expected asset sales.  Although CHK has managed to reduce spending and costs successfully, we model the company outspending cash flow in 2013, 2014, and 2015. We believe its planned asset sales will help CHK fund its cash outspend in 2013, but CHK has another funding gap in 2014 and 2015, according to our model. We think the stock is  relatively fairly valued.”

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CONSOL Energy (NYSE:CNX): Closing price $33.64

The MSHA and state agencies on Thursday gave their approval to CONSOL’s plan to resume mining operations at the Blacksville No. 2 Mine, which was evacuated on March 12 when smoke was detected exiting the Orndoff shaft. The company expects full operations to commence with the morning shift on May 20.

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Investing Insights: Can Exxon Mobil Break Out?

Enbridge reports that it could be forced to shut down an 80,000 barrel-per-day oil-loading rail terminal in North Dakota, unless it can find a way to reduce the amount of potentially deadly hydrogen sulfide in crude oil delivered to the facility. Last week, the company requested a ruling in one day from the United states Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to restrict the amount of hydrogen sulfide in the delivered crude. That request came subsequent to a very large concentration of the gas was found in a tank at Berthold, North Dakota, on May 5th.

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Petrobras – Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE:PBR): Closing price $18.55

The Brazilian state-run energy major Petroleo Brasileiro revealed late Tuesday that it had been advised of a court order that suspended environmental licenses for its Comperj refinery project in Rio de  Janeiro state. Petrobras said that the order implied “an immediate work stoppage,” but that no further details concerning the order were available. The firm  said that it was studying all possible measures connected with the halt, which would block work on one of its biggest projects, and that the Comperj refinery will have installed capacity to process 165,000 barrels of  crude oil per day when it enters operation in April 2015.

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Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDSA): Closing price $67.56

Shell insists that Egypt “remains an important country” for it, in the face of an agreement to divest some downstream assets to its competitor Total (NYSE:TOT). The Anglo-Dutch major will sell its retail and commercial fuels activities in the country to the French oil giant, but it is holding onto the lubricants unit. Shell Marketing Egypt is being divested for an unreported amount, with the staff in the entity not being involved in the lubricants activities which are transferring to the new ownership. But, Shell was quick to deny any suggestion that it is exiting Egypt which continues to languish in the midst of economic, political and social uncertainty in the wake of the Arab Spring.

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On Tuesday, Vale restarted coking coal shipments from its operations in Moatize, Mozambique, subsequent to a two-day stoppage because of the blockading of the Linha do Sena Railway by brickmakers earlier displaced by the Brazilian mining major. In a company statement, Vale said that about 60 brickmakers, a part of a larger group that Vale relocated from its mining concession starting in 2010, had been protesting on the railway. The brickmakers were asking for additional compensation for lost production for as much as two family generations. The firm did not report details as to the quantity of coal that was not shipped due to the stoppage.

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Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM): Closing price $91.11

The oil companies OGX and Exxon Mobil Corp secured Brazilian deepwater oil and natural gas exploration blocks in a frontier region of the Potiguar Basin at an auction on Tuesday. OGX will pay 20 million reais for the rights to the PN-M-475 block and the OGX and Exxon Mobil consortium agreed to  81.9 million reais for PN-M-762. The blocks are located southeast of the city of Fortaleza in the northeast.

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Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDSA): Closing price $69.75

Authorities of the European Union have raided offices of the oil majors Shell, BP (NYSE:BP) and Statoil in an inquiry of suspected manipulation of oil prices, which is one of the largest cross-border actions since the Libor rigging scandal. Officials have intensified their scrutiny of financial benchmarks worldwide since levying large fines on some of the biggest banks for rigging interest rate benchmarks. On Tuesday, the European Commission revealed that it was investigating major oil firms in regards to suspected anti-competitive arrangements linked with submission of prices to leading oil pricing agency Platts, a division of McGraw Hill Group.

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Statoil (NYSE:STO): Closing price $23.83

The Norwegian Competition Authority (Konkurransetilsynetoffice) visited Statoil’s office in Stavanger Tuesday, subject to an inspection by the EFTA Surveillance Authority. The inspection is being conducted on the request of the European Commission. The authorities suspect participation by several firms, including Statoil, in anti-competitive arrangements and/or concerted practices contrary to Article 53 of the EEA Agreement. The suspected violations are connected to the Platts’ Market-On-Close price assessment process, which is used to post prices especially for crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels, and could have going  on since 2002.

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Investing Insights: Will First Solar Continue to Explode?

On Monday, the firm said that it will invest $106 million to buy roughly 20 acres adjacent to its Pasadena, Texas, terminal, construct nine new tanks with a storage capacity of 1.2 million barrels at its Galena Park terminal under long-term customer agreements, and also construct a new barge dock that should help relieve current barge congestion in the Houston Ship Channel. The purchased acreage will be used in support of a future crude condensate and refined products terminal that should be able to handle 10 150,000-barrel tanks linked to the Explorer Pipeline. The new barge dock will provide added capacity to handle as much as 50 barges per month.

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Petrobras – Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE:PBR): Closing price $18.84

Petrobras said that it will offer six separate dollar-denominated bonds, including fixed-rate bonds with maturities in 2016, 2019, 2023, and 2043, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Two other tranches will feature floating rate notes due 2016 and 2019. The company has recruited BB Securities, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Itau BBA, Morgan Stanley, Citi, HSBC, and JPMorgan to conduct the operation. Petrobras will use the proceeds to finance capital expenditures under its 2013-2017 Business Plan and for general corporate purposes as well.

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Transocean (NYSE:RIG): Closing price $54.50

Transocean reported that J. Michael Talbert has advised the board that, if re-elected at the firm’s upcoming Annual General Meeting on May 17, he will step down from the Board no later than the firm’s 2014 AGM. In order to facilitate an orderly transition of leadership, should Talbert be chosen by the board as chairman following the upcoming AGM, he will step down as chairman no later than the Board’s November 2013 meeting, at which time a new, independent chairman will be announced.

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Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE:SPH): Closing price $50.05

The distributor of propane, fuel oil and related products and services announced Monday that it has begun an underwritten public offering to sell 2.7 million common units representing limited partner interests in the firm. Suburban also will allow the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 405,000 additional units.

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Investing Insights: Are the Shorts Right About Alcoa?

Company spokesman Allen Fore said Wednesday that Kinder Morgan is  no longer planning to build a coal export at the Port of St. Helens in Oregon, but is open to the idea of exporting coal out of the Pacific Northwest, remarking that “It’s not about coal, it’s about siting.”  The firm had been conducting due diligence at the Port Westward industrial facility since January of 2012 to determine if the site was usable for a coal export terminal, according to Fore, adding that while the site possessed rail, water, and road access, the firm found that it would not be able to fit the necessary equipment within the footprint, saying that “We couldn’t find a configuration on the site.”

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MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE:MWE): Closing price $62.78

MarkWest reported Wednesday definitive agreements to purchase all of the ownership interests of certain midstream assets in the Anadarko Basin from a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), at a cash price of $245 million; the transaction closed with the execution of the agreements. The assets comprise a 200 million cubic feet per day cryogenic gas processing plant — Buffalo Creek Plant — and 22 miles of gas gathering pipeline in Hemphill County, Texas, and roughly 30 miles of rights-of-way connected with the future construction of a high-pressure trunk line.

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Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX): Closing price $63.38

Chief Executive Greg Garland said on Wednesday that lawmakers need to think again before hiking the amount of ethanol mandated to be mixed into gasoline, a matter he says impacts all of the refining industry. Pronouncing it an “unworkable mandate,” Garland said that the ethanol-blending-requirement level should not be increased, and that the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to require refiners to add more ethanol to the fuel, along with flat or stalling domestic demand for gasoline, suggests that the industry in its entirety is likely to hit the so-called blend wall by 2014, which is a level of mix after which refiners say more ethanol can not be added to the fuel supply.

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On Tuesday, Chief Executive Maria das Gracas Silva Foster said that the firm’s reserves will double in size by 2020, thus reinforcing Brazil’s role as a major energy player. Petrobras has been criticized by analysts and investors for its bulky investments because the expenditures have resulted in a less-than-anticipated rise in crude production, even though it found some of the world’s biggest oil discoveries in the past 20 years. The company has said that it intends to invest $236.7 billion during the next five years, keeping spending and output targets at the same levels as in the 2012 plan.

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Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC): Closing price $86.58

The Algerian state news agency APS reported that Anadarko and Sonatrach commenced pumping from El Merk’s fields in March, but had just delivered its initial oil outside of the complex on Friday, citing sources at the operation. The complex includes a factory in which to process the hydrocarbons, and will produce 127,000 barrels per day of crude oil and condensates by the end of 2013, said APS. Anadarko also announced late Monday that it had begun output from El Merk. Following the January attack on In-Amenas, Anadarko Chief Executive Al Walker said that his company had increased security at its operations in Algeria, but was not thinking about exiting the country.

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Plains Exploration & Production Company (NYSE:PXP): Closing price $46.78

The proxy advisement firm Institutional Shareholder Services said that Plains shareholders should oppose the more-than-$6-billion proposed takeover by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX), delivering a blow to the latter while shareholder resistance to the deal grows stronger. Beyond that, the hedge fund Arrowgrass Capital Partners wrote in a letter to Plains on Tuesday that it will vote its approximate 3.6-percent position against Freeport’s offer as well, contending that Plains shares are worth more. And finally, shareholder CR Intrinsic, with about a 3.8-percent stake in Plains, is also against the bid. ISS agreed in its report that the Freeport offer is insufficient, saying that “even at the announcement day valuation of $49.55, the transaction would offer little or no takeover premium to the current stand-alone value.”

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BP (NYSE:BP): Closing price $44.06

The oil supermajor failed to increase output at Azerbaijan’s biggest oilfield in the first quarter, even after being bashed by the country’s president. The Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field in Azerbaijan’s section of the Caspian Sea produced 662,000 barrels per day of oil in the first three months of 2013, which was down by 8.4 percent year over year, as BP said Tuesday in a statement. In a televised speech in October, President Aliyev spoke out against the output slump that began at the end of 2010, insisting that BP replace those responsible.

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Investing Insights: Where Will Schlumberger Go Next?

On Monday, the Brazilian oil start-up HRT Participacoes em Petroleo said that it will purchase a 60-percent interest in the offshore Polvo heavy oil field from the local division of BP at a price of $135 million. The transaction would represent HRT’s transformation from a pure exploration play into a small oil producer. The output at Polvo is roughly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day, according to HRT. The Brazilian division of Denmark’s Maersk Oil holds the remaining 40 percent of Polvo.

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 Sunoco Logistics Partners (NYSE: SXL): Closing price $60.09

Sunoco reports that it has received sufficient binding commitments to allow its Mariner South Pipeline to go forward as planned. The Mariner South Pipeline will carry export grade propane and butane from Lone Star’s storage and fractionation complex in Mont Belvieu, Texas to Sunoco Logistics terminal in Nederland, Texas. Even though enough commitments have been attained for this project to move forward, the binding open season period will stay open to solicit additional shipper interest.

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Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM): Closing price $90.58

Exxon Mobil and its partners are now searching for what has so far eluded the Irish: offshore oil and gas. The oil giant has kicked off a six-month drilling campaign off southwestern Ireland with a rig relocated to the area in late April, say media reports. Along with Exxon, the consortium includes Italy’s Eni (NYSE:E) and Spain’s Repsol, plus the Ireland-based company Providence Resources and a junior partner. For its part, Providence said it started to drill the Dunquin well in April, adding that drilling was expected to take “several months” using the Eirik Raude semi-submersible drilling rig.

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Chesapeake’s board of directors has accepted the resignation of Director Louis A. Simpson, and  President and Chief Executive Thomas L. Ryan of Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI), has been chosen to fill the vacancy, and has also been appointed to the audit committee. Ryan will stand for election at the 2013 annual meeting of shareholders on June 14th; he replaces R. Brad Martin on the audit committee, with  Martin becoming chair of the nominating, corporate governance and social responsibility committee.

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CNOOC Limited (NYSE:CEO): Closing price $186.10

The jumbo bond by CNOOC, which is China’s number-one offshore oil-and-gas producer by revenue, was oversubscribed by a factor of five, due to robust demand frombig American institutional funds. The state-owned energy company sold a $4 billion, four-part bonds Thursday, in the biggest dollar bond offering ever by a Chinese firm. The deal lured orders of $23.8 billion only 16 hours after it was announced, in the highest demand for a bond sale in Asia, except for Japan in recent years, according to knowledgeable sources on Friday.

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Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NASDAQ:MPC): Current price $78.10

The corporation is presently unable to load oil from a barge dock on the Mississippi River at Wood River, Illinois, which could depress Canadian oil prices if repairs take too long. The unloading arm at the dock sustained damage early Friday, as a barge it was filling with crude was impacted by other vessels in the river that lost their mooring, said spokesman Shane Pochard for the company in a phone interview. President Andy Lipow  of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston, commented that the dock probably loads 40,000 barrels of heavy Canadian crude per day onto barges that travel down the Mississippi River to Marathon’s 460,000-barrel-a-day Garyville refinery in Louisiana.

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Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY): Closing price $90.76

Occidental Chairman Ray Irani was removed by shareholders from the board, and he was absent from Friday’s annual meeting in Santa Monica. Irani has been with the company since 1983, and took over as chairman and chief executive in 1990 following the death of the company founder Armand Hammer. He gave up the CEO post two years ago and was set to retire from the company in 2014. The lead independent director of Occidental since 1999, Aziz Syriani, also withdrew as a candidate for re-election to the board.

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