S&P names 18 US energy companies as likely to grow

The 2008 version of the annual list includes companies from 33 countries, with more companies--76--coming from China than anywhere else, and the U.S. second. A total of 14 companies are listed from Hong Kong. Germany and Switzerland round out the top five, with 13 companies each.

Just squeaking onto the list were Ireland, Indonesia, Spain and the Czech Republic, each with one company named.

Regionally, 39 percent of the 300 are from Asia/Pacific nations, 30 percent from Europe, just over 29 percent from the Americas and less than 2 percent from the Middle East and Africa. That's a slight decline for Asia/Pacific countries from last year, when they led the list with a 41.7 percent share.

The companies, which are broken down into nine sectors, are examined by S&P using the company's public listing in its home country. To be considered, each company must have a market value between $1 billion and $5 billion, and must have shown share price gains, earnings per share growth, sales growth and employee growth in the last three years.

The list, published since 2006, is reconstituted once a year in April using data ending March 31.

Industrials made up the largest sector overall, with materials second and energy third.

In the energy sector, U.S. companies that made the list include: W-H Energy Services Inc., Superior Energy Services Inc., SEACOR Holdings Inc., Rowan Cos. Inc., Quicksilver Resources Inc., Penn Virginia Corp., Oil States International Inc., Holly Corp., Helmerich & Payne Inc., Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc., GulfMark Offshore Inc., Global Industries Ltd., Frontier Oil Corp., Dril-Quip Inc., Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc., Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Buckeye Partners L.P. and ATP Oil & Gas Corp.