Royal Dutch Shell crowned world's largest corporation

Who said big oil was a dying business? Fortune has released its Global 500, their "annual ranking of the world's largest corporations," and topping the charts is Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), which, much like a Mariah Carey song, bumped up into the coveted number-one slot after some time at number three. The Netherlands-based oil company trumped its U.S. rival, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) by $15 billion in sales and saw its revenue spike nearly 29% from 2007.

Speaking of Exxon, the company once again had a tiger in its tank, ranking number two in the world as oil futures bounced around in a nearly $100-dollar range, hitting $146 per barrel at its heights.

But oil isn't the only big business. Of course there is Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT), which, much like an Usher song, bounced from the top spot to number 3. Revenue grew by a respectable 7% in 2008 as strapped consumers turned to Wal-Mart and other discount chains to stock up on cheap groceries and health and beauty items.

Rounding out the top ten:

4. Yet another petroleum company, BP (NYSE: BP)
5. And ... why yep, there we go again with Chevron (NYSE: CVX)
6. Total (NYSE: TOT), which is a French petroleum refining firm
7. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP). No comment.
8. Netherlands-based banking name ING Groep (NYSE: ING).
9. Chinese petroleum refining company Sinopec (NYSE: SHI).
10. And finally, Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM)

Guess J.R. Ewing was right ... the big money is in oil.

Beth works for The Options News Network (www.ONN.tv), which provides daily options commentary. The above comments are not intended as trading advice.

Tags: BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, COP, CVX, Exxon Mobil, fortune 500, ING, inthenews, royal dutch shell, shell, SIN, Sinopec, TM, TOT, Total, Toyota, Wal-Mart, WMT, XOM