· Shell is world’s most valuable oil and gas brand, value up 7% since last year to US$42.3bn
· New Emirati entrant ADNOC named world’s 12th most valuable oil and gas brand, valued at US$8.9 billion
· PETRONAS rising through ranks, brand value up 16% to US$13.3 billion
View the full Brand Finance Oil & Gas 2019 ranking here
Shell remains the world’s most valuable oil and gas brand as its value grew 7% over the past year to US$42.3 billion, according to the latest report by Brand Finance, the world’s leading independent brand valuation consultancy. The 7% brand value boost to Shell, the world’s 26th most valuable brand across all industries, has meant the Dutch giant has retained its status at the top of the Brand Finance Oil & Gas 50 rankings. The boost was primarily driven by spikes in oil prices, leading to increased revenue forecasts and therefore higher brand values.
Of the three Chinese brands ranked in the Brand Finance Oil & Gas 50, PetroChina (brand value up 18% to US$36.8 billion) held firm in second place, with fellow Chinese brand Sinopec (up 23% to US$29.1 billion) recording strength in its upstream and refining business.
Defending its 5th place rank, BP (up 16% to US$22.7 billion) has returned to steady growth since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico. Under the new leadership of Mr.Helge Lund, BP is prioritising the transition towards cleaner energy and aligning a corporate strategy that is fully consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
ADNOC makes an entrance
New entrant to the ranking this year, state-owned oil brand of the United Arab Emirates, The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has had a remarkable few years in which it has rebranded its 13 entities, covering O&G, shipping, logistics and schools and propelled forward in its priorities of seeking out new revenue sources.
ADNOC boasts a brand value of US$8.9bn and announcing itself on the world stage as a world leading oil and gas brand. Since launching its new unified brand in 2017 and bringing the brand’s various subsidiaries under a common identity, ADNOC has amplified the scale of its business and contribution to the UAE’s economy.
ADNOC has opened its first fuel stations in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, announced plans to increase its oil production capacity to 4 million barrels per day by the end of 2020 and has also been making progress on its integrated 2030 Strategy, which is aimed at balancing market conditions with long-term future growth.
As the first Middle Eastern oil and gas brand to be featured in the Brand Finance Oil & Gas 50 2019, ADNOC entered the global capital markets for the first time two years ago and has already taken the title of the world’s fastest growing oil and gas brand. The listing of its fuel distribution unit was touted as the largest IPO on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange in the past decade.
At a workshop seminar hosted today by Brand Finance on “Oil & Gas Brand Values in a 4.0 World”, Omar Zaafrani of ADNOC stressed how the Abu Dhabi oil and gas brand is focused on responding to changes taking place in the world’s energy markets and unlocking huge reserves of previously uneconomical gas that will “put the UAE on a path to gas self-sufficiency and ultimately transition the nation to become a net exporter of natural gas.”
David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, commented:
“These impressive results are a testament to the leadership of Dr Sultan Al Jaber and his valuable contributions to energy security alongside the total reshaping of the traditional energy business model. ADNOC is certainly well positioned to assert itself on the global stage and to engage as a truly global oil and gas brand.”
Embracing the digital revolution
Defending its 4th place rank, French brand Total have seen a 20% growth in brand value since last year, valued at US$25.2 million. The major energy player is seen to be at the forefront of embracing new technologies, having last year announced a partnership with Google Cloud to jointly develop AI technologies for support in exploring and assessing oil and gas fields. This could help with forecasting the likely output of sites over time and with analysis of satellite or rock sample images to further enhance its exploration efforts.
Chevron (brand value down 6% to US$16.0 billion) in late 2018 announced its investment in EV charging specialist ChargePoint, making it the first investment in such a space for the oil and gas brand. In emerging and alternative energy, Chevron has also invested in fuel cell company Acumentrics, renewable fuel brand Ensyn and carbon capture firm Inventys.
David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, commented:
“With the entrance of new digital techniques in oil drilling, such as those employed by AI and cloud technology, oil and gas giants need to be prepared to embrace digitisation as a top priority in order to reduce costs and boost efficiency. It is the brands which explore these radical new tools that will stay ahead of the curve and boost their brand values in the coming years.”
PETRONAS races ahead
Malaysian brand PETRONAS has held firm in 4th place in this year’s Brand Finance Oil & Gas 50 2019 ranking, with its brand value up 15.8% since last year to US$13.3 billion. PETRONAS’ brand value increase of US$1.8 billion over 2018 is not an easy feat for an Oil and Gas industry brand, given the roller coaster ride the industry has undergone.
PETRONAS is a classic example of your brand driving the business success. Most oil and gas brands operate like commodity products given the controlled pricing and low levels of customer engagement opportunity due to the product. However, PETRONAS has redefined how technical superiority though a winning formula in terms of fuel and lubes formulations and their partnership with F1 Mercedes team can be a game changer to even the dullest product categories and commodity type brands. Having recently announced their 3-year commitment as the title sponsor of Le Tour de Langkawi, PETRONAS continues its brand building efforts both domestically and internationally.
Gazprom is strongest oil and gas brand
Aside from calculating overall brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. Along with the level of revenues, brand strength is a crucial driver of brand value.
According to this criteria, Russian petrochemical giant Gazprom is the strongest brand in the Brand Finance Oil & Gas 50 2019 ranking. With a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 88.3 out of 100, up a whopping 26% from last year. The brand has recorded a AAA brand rating, marking an improvement since last year’s AA rating.
ENDS
Note to Editors
Every year, leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance values the world’s biggest oil and gas brands. The 50 most valuable oil and gas brands in the world are included in the Brand Finance Oil & Gas 50 2019 ranking.
Brand value is understood as the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market. Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors.
Additional insights, more information about the methodology, as well as definitions of key terms are available in the Brand Finance Oil & Gas 50 2019 ranking.
Brand Finance helped craft the internationally recognized standard on Brand Valuation – ISO 10668, and the recently approved standard on Brand Evaluation – ISO 20671. Brand Finance is a chartered accountancy firm regulated by ICAEW and also the first brand valuation consultancy to join the International Valuation Standards Committee (IVSC).
The methodology used to produce the annual Brand Finance rankings of the most valuable and strongest brands across all sectors and countries has been certified with the Marketing Accountability Standards Board’s (MASB) Marketing Metric Audit Protocol (MMAP).
Data compiled for the Brand Finance league tables and reports are provided for the benefit of the media and are not to be used for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance for more than 25 years, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organizations of all kinds make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance has offices in over 20 countries, offering services on all continents. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 5,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on over 5,000 brands, surveying more than 150,000 respondents across 38 countries and 31 industry sectors. Combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database enables Brand Finance to arm brand leaders with the data and analytics they need to enhance brand and business value.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm, leading the standardization of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
