Is there an ethical oil company?

It is impossible to deny that the oil industry as a whole has an extremely negative image in public consciousness. The picture of greedy oil executives seems burned into the American psyche. Are oil companies truly evil, megalomaniacal corporations bent on the destruction of the environment for their own personal profit? Of course not, yet the fact remains that the energy industry has wreaked havoc on the world. Obviously, the BP spill is the most pressing and recent example that comes to mind, but oil spills, and the general devastation of the natural world by these companies seems to be an expected part of obtaining our energy sources. Yet the public continues to demand affordable gas and electricity. Is there anything that a company can do to remain true to both morality and economic sensibility?

I decided to examine which particular oil companies are known to be the most ethical. I found two reports, one from 2008 published by Managements and Excellence, a company which purports to be a “leader in auditing, rating, consulting, return calculation and research services in connection with sustainability, governance, ethics, social and environmental responsibility, and transparency.” They placed Petrobas as the most ethical oil company, with Shell at number 3 and Exxonmobil at 11. What struck me, however, was British Petroleum taking the third most ethically responsible spot on this list. BP is, in my personal opinion, the antithesis of an ethical company. While that is a matter for a different discussion, I decided to do some further research to see if I could find any reports which corroborated this. I found a blog which discusses the ethicality of several oil companies. While I am not 100% confident in this source, it also lists BP and Shell among the most ethical oil companies. All of this leads back to the original question of whether an oil company can truly be principled.

The process of removing oil from the ground is, by its very nature, messy. We are in no position currently, to relinquish our need for oil. Thus oil companies must continue to exist regardless of their morality, and it is impossible for an oil company to have zero effect on the world around it. All that can be expected, in this case, is that the companies try their hardest to limit the damage that they do, and are open and honest about their policies.

http://www.management-rating.com/index.php?lng=en&cmd=100
http://makewealthhistory.org/2008/03/10/which-is-the-most-ethical-oil-company/