Shell is also one of the world's most valuable companies. As of January, 2013 the largest shareholder is Capital Research Global Investors with 9.85% ahead of BlackRock in second with 6.89%. Shell topped the Fortune 500 list of largest companies in the world. Royal Dutch Shell revenue was equal to 84% of the Netherlands's $555.8 billion GDP at the time.
Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading. It has minor renewable energy activities in the form of biofuels. It has operations in over 90 countries, produces around 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 44,000 service stations worldwide. Shell Oil Company, its subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses.
Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012, it was the largest company on the FTSE, with a market capitalisation of £140.9 billion. It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange.
History
20th century
The Royal Dutch Shell Group was created in February 1907 through the merger of two rival companies - Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Dutch legal name : N.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij) and the "Shell" Transport and Trading Company Ltd of the United Kingdom, founded by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted. It was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with the then dominant American petroleum company, John