GAS HOGS

IT'S NOT AS THOUGH you need to be told that petroleum is king. After all, filling your car or truck is testament enough that the big oil companies are enjoying record revenues and profits, thus putting them on the throne, complete with cape and scepter.

But to drive the point home, 15 companies

And of the $1.27 trillion in revenue for all 50 companies on the list, petroleum and coal companies contributed $986 billion - or 77% of the total revenue. The leader? Exxon Mobil Corp., with 2005 revenues of $363 billion, contributes 28% to total revenues and nearly 40% to the petroleum and coal products revenues.

With fears of supply disruption, increased demand in China and India and a spike in crude oil prices, it isn't hard to figure out why petroleum rules.

But for hard numbers, INDUSTRYWEEK'S list considered financial measures that pertain to operational efficiency and market success. We selected this year's top performers by comparing financial performance during the past three years (2003 to 2005) in revenue growth, return on equity (ROE) and profit margin.