supermajor
nounEtymology From super- + major.
1
Any of the world's largest privately owned oil and gas companies.
- 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.2008 June 7, Conrad De Aenlle, “Big Oil Is Owed Some Love”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022:
- 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).2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2020:
1 more example
- 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.2014, John R. Heilbrunn, Oil, Democracy, and Development in Africa, page 90:
2
A very large soldier ant, bigger than a major.