Brazil’s Petrobras ranks third largest company in U.S. stock market

Brazil’s state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras ranks the third largest public company in the U.S. stock market with a value of 207.9 billion U.S. dollars, according to a study released Tuesday by the consulting company Economatica.

The Brazilian company is only after two U.S. companies of Exxon with a market value of 345.8 billion dollars and Microsoft which has a market value of 257.4 billion dollars.

Aother Brazilian company, mining giant Vale, the largest iron ore producer in the world and Brazil’s second largest company, ranks 15th on the list with a market value of 141.9 billion dollars.

According to Economatica, the two Brazilian companies grew significantly in the past few years. Since 2003, the first year of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration, Petrobras has jumped 118 positions in the ranking, which then had a market value of 15.4 billion dollars.

During the same period, Vale has jumped 139 positions in the list, from then its market value of 11 billion.

Among the 15 largest companies in the ranking, the other 13 are from the U.S. Retail giant Wal-Mart ranks fourth with a market value of 200.6 billion dollars. Computer company Apple ranks fifth with a market value of 181.5 billion dollars.