Exxon Mobil Tops Fortune 500 List

Exxon Mobil has bumped Wal-Mart from first place among the Fortune 500 top revenue-generating U.S. companies thanks to rising oil prices.

Revenue poured in last year for Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp. as the price of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil soared 19 percent. Brent crude, which helps set the price of foreign oil varieties, surged 38 percent between 2010 and 2011.

Two other petroleum companies -- Chevron and ConocoPhillips -- ranked behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Rounding out the top 10 were automaker General Motors Co., industrial and banking giant General Electric Co., Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., mortgage provider Fannie Mae, Ford Motor Co. and technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co.

For 2011, Exxon Mobil reported revenue of $486 billion. For the year ending in January, Wal-Mart reported $444 billion.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)