Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell topped for the fourth year running an index of global oil and gas companies ranked by the sustainability and responsibility of their operations.
Madrid-based sustainability and rating agency Management & Excellence scores major energy players in terms of the sustainability, corporate governance, ethics and transparency of their operations based on a range of international standards, including US Securities & Exchange Commission and Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, national laws, Millennium Goals, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, International Labour Organisation and International Standards Organisation rankings, internal reserves accounting and other industry-specific benchmarks.
Shell scored 90.16% compliance with the standards, with Brazilian state-owned player Petrobras close behind at 89.64%. French giant Total was in third place at 86.01%. UK supermajor was fourth with 81.35%.
US supermajor ConocoPhillips was in seventh place with 67.36% and Russian behemoth Lukoil was in tenth spot in the rankings with 51.55%. US supermajors Chevron and ExxonMobil were not listed in the top 10 places released by Management & Excellence.
Shell and Petrobras benefitted from increased social spending, with Petrobras investing heavily in social spending as it builds new pipelines through remote areas in South America. Shell was seen as improving transparency after firing a number of employees over a bribery scandal in Nigeria.
BP's ranking was hit by last month's report by former US secretary of state James Baker, which heavily criticised the company's safety and environmental record in the US.
Total recorded the largest annual improvement, rising more than 10%.
Most sustainable oil companies 2007:
1. Shell 90.16%
2. Petrobras 89.64%
3. Total 86.01%
4. BP 81.35%
5. Repsol 74.35%
6. ENI 71.24%
7. ConocoPhilips 67.36%
8. OMV 65.54%
9. Pemex 56.99%
10. Lukoil 51.55%
Schlumberger topped the study's list of the most sustainable oil service companies, with 71.39% compliance, trailed by Halliburton with 65.24% and Baker Hughes at 44.92%. The study's authors said oil services companies tended to underperform integrated oil majors because of their lower risk profiles.
© Upstream 2007
