(Yicai Global) Nov. 30 -- State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) remains the third largest oil company worldwide and has now been included in the top ten for 17 consecutive years now, says American Petroleum Intelligence Weekly's annual list of the 50 Largest Oil Companies in the World 2017.

CNPC remains in third place in terms of natural gas production, up from sixth last year, while Sinopec Group ranks twentieth for gas output, with its natural gas production up by three places and its oil refining capacity still ranking first worldwide. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) ranks the thirty-first overall.

The top ten is made up of Saudi Aramco, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), CNPC, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), Exxon Mobil Corp. [NYSE:XOM], Royal Dutch Shell [AMS:RDSA], British Petroleum [LON:BP], Rosneft Oil [MCX:ROSN], Gazprom [MCX:GAZP] and Total [EPA:FP].