Shell Game: ExxonMobil Loses Top Spot

In a reversal of ExxonMobil's ascendancy in 2005, Shell Oil Co. has reclaimed the title of the largest global lubricants marketer for 2006, according to a study by Kline & Co. Shell Oil, which had been supplanted by ExxonMobil in 2005 as the leading global marketer of automotive and industrial lubricants, was able to regain the top ranking via the acquisition last year by Shell China Holdings B.V. of a 75 percent share in Beijing Tongyi Petroleum Chemical Co. Ltd. and Xianyang Tongyi Petroleum Co. Ltd., which together produce and market China's leading independent lubricant brand.