BP's oil price wager pays off

Matthew Lynn

Europe's two oil giants, Shell and BP, took opposite approaches to the late 1990's oil price slump. BP's aggressive stance looks like the winner

Some industry positions appear set in stone. Decades flash by but Coca-Cola still sells more soft drinks than PepsiCo. McDonald's continues to serve more meals than Burger King. And, in Europe at least, Royal Dutch/Shell was always the No. 1 oil company, ahead of British rival BP. Until now, that is. Depending on how you measure it, BP is now the bigger company. It lifts as much oil. It delivers better returns to shareholders. As of last week, it was worth more as well. By market value, Shell was overtaken by BP after it failed to reach analysts' profit estimates. More important, BP has t...