These specialized refiners accounted for 38 percent of U.S. refining capacity in 1999, up from only 7 percent in 1990. Two-thirds of this growth came through acquisitions of capacity from vertically integrated and formerly vertically integrated FRS companies. Although the energy services companies are involved in natural gas production or petroleum refining, these businesses are usually minor in comparison with gas and power services. Among the vertically integrated companies, the mega merger survivors, BP Amoco and ExxonMobil, grew a collective 65 percent over the 1995 to 1999 period. In contrast, the other integrated majors collectively grew only 9 percent over the same period.
Corporate growth is only one indicator of strategic success.
More critical to the prospects for future success are the assessments of the capital markets. Using common stock price appreciation as a measure of investor perceptions indicates that the capital markets have given favorable nods to the energy service companies and mega merger survivors. Over the 1995 to 1999 period, the weighted average share price of the energy services companies grew at an annual 23-percent clip. The share prices of BP Amoco and ExxonMobil grew at a 20-percent rate over the period. Interestingly, other vertically integrated companies' overall share price kept pace with BP and Exxon through 1997, but was flat between 1997 and 1999.