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BP edged out Exxon Mobil to grab second place overall, with British-Dutch group Royal Dutch/Shell in the number four spot and Frances Total coming in at number 10.
However, Exxon Mobil proved to be the most profitable company on the list with a net profit of US$21.5 billion dollars.
US discount chain Wal-Mart, topped the list with revenues up 7% at US$263 billion dollars and a workforce of 1.5 million, spearheading a pack of 189 American companies in the top 500, Fortune said.
"Even with a war in Iraq, a jobless recovery in the United States, and anaemic economic growth in Europe, the Fortune Global 500 companies reported revenues last year of 14.9 trillion dollars - higher than the 14.1 trillion dollars at the height of the tech boom in 2000 - as well as record profits of 731.2 billion dollars," said Fortune's Paola Hjelt.
Working in the oil companies favour is the success of the major car manufacturers with General Motors in the list as the fifth biggest company of 2003, Ford number six, German car group DaimlerChrysler seventh and Japanese giant Toyota number eight.
