The aim of quotation marks is to emphasize different parts of a text, to signalize direct speech, dialogues or quotations, as well as to set off titles, phrases or just single words. Quotation marks are also called inverted commas, speech marks, or quotes. Quotation marks can be used in two styles; single (â â or ') or double (â â or ), and can also appear in two different typefaces; either as so called dumb or straight quotes (' or ) or as smart quotes (â â or â â).
The five biggest oil companies earned a combined profit of $375 million per day, or a record $137 billion profit for the year, in 2011, despite reducing their oil production. In 60 seconds, these five companies earned $261,000 â more than 96 percent of American households make in one year.
Back to Gallery. According to Pass Fail, the Houston Chronicleâs finance analysis website, the 20 largest Houston-based oil and gas companies were valued at $868 billion in 2014. Among Houstonâs energy companies, Schlumberger had the largest market capitalization at $124 billion, making it the largest oil field services company in the world.