In 2015 Exxon took the top spot in the oil and gas division of the IndustryWeek IW U.S. 500 and it remains there in the 2018 IW U.S. 500.
In the energy sector, 2017 was the year the United States confirmed its growing status as an energy exporter. "Some may see our newfound energy strength as allowing us to go further down an isolationist path as we seek the dream of energy independence," Deloitte said. "Another view might be that our strength as an energy supplier simply gives us more leverage in the global, free trade economy that the United States has historically supported.
Whatever the case we are on pace to export more energy products than it imports by 2022 as oil and natural gas production from the nation's shale fields keep booming and domestic energy demand remains fairly tepid, according the Department of Energy's statistics arm.
