This paper considers operating and capital expenditures of public and private oil-pro­ducing companies as factors that underlie the competitiveness of enterprises. The purpose of the study is to (1) assess the competitiveness of specific producing companies (Iraq National Oil Company, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Qatar Petroleum, Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, ExxonMobil, Total, Royal Dutch Shell, OAO Rosneft, OAO Lukoil); (2) compare private and state oiland gas companies for the period from 2000 to 2013; and (3) form a conclusion about the competitive advantages of these companies. Panel data on production, export and expenditures of 10 oil-producing companies have been used to estimate the cost equation by means of ordinary and median fixed-effect regression.

Based on these estimates, the authors have compiled rankings of companies on the competitive advantages from the standpoint of operating and capital costs separately. According to the obtained estimates, Arab companies have the smallest level of operating and capital costs when adjusted for the volume and the structure of production, which can be interpreted as their competitive advantage over their Western and Russian peers. The results of the work are aimed at improving the transparency of the global energy sector and, according to the authors, may be useful to Russian oil and gas companies’ management and global oil market research ers, especially in the current period of stagnation resulting from the recent drop of oil prices.