Fortune magazine has released it's annual list of the largest corporations in the United States by revenue. The Fortune 500 list now has a new leading company at the top after Wal-Mart held the position for the previous 4 years.

It's hardly a surprise that the new company to take the number spot would be an oil company. With oil prices soaring, all the major oil companies are moving up the Fortune 500 list. The oil giant Exxon Mobil is at the top, bringing in $339.9 billion revenue over the past year, or $36.1 billion in profit. That's nearly a billion dollars in sales daily or more than 3 times the profit of the retailing giant Wal-Mart in second place.

Other oil companies in the top 10 taking advantage of the high gas prices include Chevron in fourth place (up 2 places), and ConocoPhilips moving from seventh to sixth place this year.

Many of the largest companies in America improved their revenue and profit over the past year because of the improving economic conditions around the world. With the worldwide economic growth estimated at 4.25% by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, many major American companies profited. Growth areas like China, India, and the recovering Japan were places that Fortune 500 companies took advantage of. Cait Murphy of the Fortune magazine said that "If the global economic growth is strong, then the 500 will do well because they have substantial operations and sales abroad."

The Fortune 500 list measures corporations by their revenue and profits earned each year. It was started back in 1954 and has only ever had three different companies take the number one position on the list. They include the oil giant Exxon Mobil, the retailer Wal-Mart, and the now troubled vehicle manufacturer General Motors.

Below is a listing of the top 20 companies from the Fortune 500 list this year..

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