“Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras has become the fourth largest company on the American continent, according to a study released on Wednesday by consulting company Economatica.

According to the study, which included companies from all Latin American countries and the United States, Petrobras’ market value increased 81.1 percent since the beginning of this year, reaching 173.59 billion U.S. dollars, the highest among Latin American corporations.

Last year, Petrobras was already the largest corporation in Latin America, but ranked 17th on the complete list.

The three largest companies in Economatica’s ranking were U.S. corporations Exxon Mobil, with a market value of 344 billion U.S. dollars; Microsoft, with 211.8 billion U.S. dollars, and Wal-Mart, with 194 billion U.S. dollars.” – Xinhua News Agency

I understand why Petrobras is there this time around. It is because they discovered large oil wells in the subsalt areas off the coast of Rio. Although, I do wonder, is there something wrong with this whole picture? Two gas giants, a computer company and department store are the biggest money makers? It makes me think about what kinds of companies I would like to see at the top of the list, if it were up to me. Aren’t there companies from Canada all the way down to Chile that are doing really positive work and actually making a difference in the world (or at least in the Americas)?