The 10 greenest oil companies

Putting a term such as "green" in front of oil company may seem like an oxymoron. But, as long as renewable energy sources and alternative fuels remain underdeveloped, the majority of people are going to rely on oil companies to fuel their cars.

So, if we are going to have to rely on fossil fuels, we should support the companies that are the greenest—that is, those companies that are spending some of their profits on alternative-fuel research and honestly and accurately file environmental reports. Consumers also need to keep it mind that not all companies follow the exact same processes for getting oil out of the ground, refining it, and shipping it to your oil pump, meaning that one company's carbon footprint can be smaller than others.

With that said, one company—BP—stands above the rest in the rankings of the greenest oil companies. However, much of this can be attributed to money spent in the past on alternative fuel research, something the company hasn't been doing as much of since its ownership changed in 2007.

Sonoco and Shell ranked second and third on the list, and the largest oil company (and currently the most profitable company in the world) Exxon Mobile ranked sixth.