Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (RDS.A), Chevron Corporation (CVX), Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM): Big Oil Squares Off in a Battle for LNG Supremacy

The biggest advantage Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has is that several of these facilities are fast movers. Kitimat was the first facility to get export approval from the Canadian government, and the Gorgon facility is more than two-thirds complete.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM): Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) has a long history of LNG, as the company has been involved in some of the earliest LNG projects in Qatar and Indonesia. Today, the company is second only to Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) for LNG capacity, with an ownership of just over 19 million tons per year of LNG capacity, most of which is in Qatar — the world’s third largest natural gas reserves holder and responsible for 30% of global LNG in 2012.

Based on projects in the pipeline, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is taking a more measured approach to LNG exports in the near term compared with its competitors. The company does have a 25% stake in Gorgon and is currently developing its own LNG facility in Papua New Guinea, but this represents only 6.5 million tons of LNG that is currently under construction. Rather, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is looking at making an impact further down the road with a 30 million-ton-per-year facility in Canada and an agreement with Rosneft to develop gas in both the U.S. and Russian parts of the Arctic Sea.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s plans are very ambitious in the long term, but the question remains whether the demand for LNG will remain while it waits in line for approval on some of these massive facilities. Considering the terrible quarter the company just had, it might be wise to focus on projects that will have a more immediate impact.

What a Fool believes
Of the three companies, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is most likely see the most immediate impact to the bottom line from these LNG investments. The Gorgon facility will represent a boost of 200,000 barrels per day equivalent to production, which, based on the company’s current adjusted return per barrel of oil equivalent, would represent about $4.7 billion in earnings per year for the company. Over the long term, though, Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A)’s combination of existing facilities, shipping fleet, and project pipeline appear to place Shell on the throne as the premier LNG exporter for quite some time to come.

The article Big Oil Squares Off in a Battle for LNG Supremacy originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Tyler Crowe.

Fool contributor Tyler Crowe has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him at Fool.com under the handle TMFDirtyBird, on Google +, or on Twitter, @TylerCroweFool. The Motley Fool recommends Chevron.

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