BP Fined for Lying...and more suggestions on where to gas up

BP's lies and greed isn't just about the Gulf anymore. Seems they have been lying to the government about prices and royalties related to production on the Southern Ute tribal lands in Colorado. More on this below, followed by some resources to help decide what gas stations best suit your ideals. Sunoco and Hess seem the best according to most sources. Citgo perhaps next. BP/Arco (which I admit I used to like), Exxon/Mobil and Chevron/Texaco seem the worst according to most sources.

From BBC News:

British oil firm BP has been fined $5.2m (£3.5m) by the US Interior Department.

The fine was imposed after the firm was accused of making "false, inaccurate, or misleading" reports regarding energy output on tribal lands in Colorado...

In a written statement, the Interior Department said the case related to BP's activities on Southern Ute Native American tribal lands in southwestern Colorado.

"It is simply unacceptable for companies to repeatedly misreport production, particularly when it interferes with the auditing process," said Michael Bromwich, the director of BOEMRE.

BOEMRE said auditors found BP reported incorrect royalty rates and prices.

More details from the Denver Post:

The problem was first discovered in 2007 by Southern Ute tribal auditors, who work in conjunction with the bureau's Minerals Revenue Management program.

The tribal auditors brought the issue to BP's attention.

In filing monthly royalty reports, a company must provide production, market prices and the location of the producing wells.

BP America consistently had problems accurately filing this information, according to bureau officials.

"I appreciate the MRM's recognition of its trust responsibility to the tribe by assessing civil penalties when other means have failed to attain correct and accurate reporting," Southern Ute Tribal Chairman Matthew J. Box said in a statement.

This is just one more example of BP's terrible record. Seems they were trying to cheat the Ute tribe and the US government. Yet another reason to boycott BP and Arco (owned by BP). Citgo and Sunoco seem the best companies, though a reader in another diary pointed out a possible connection between Sunoco and BP, so not sure even there. The connection doesn't seem direct, though.

Here is a PDF that outlines the better and worse gas companies from an environmental viewpoint.

Better:

Citgo
Sunoco
Hess
Flying J
Murphy
Gulf
Sinclair

Worse:

ExxonMobil
Shell
BP
Chevron
Valero
ConocoPhillips
Getty/Lukoil
Marathon
Tesoro

The PDF has details for each company.

Sierra Club breaks it down this way:

Top of the Barrel
Sunoco

Middle of the Barrel
Royal Dutch Shell
Chevron
Valero Energy Corporation
Citgo

Bottom of the Barrel
ExxonMobil
ConocoPhillips

Dishonorable Mention
BP

One thing Sierra Club notes about Sunoco is this:

Stance on Global Warming

* Sunoco has publicly acknowledged the human role in global climate change and is a member of the Pew Center's Business Environmental Leadership Council.

Green Initiatives

* Due to energy-conservation efforts, net energy use by the company decreased by almost 12 percent between 1990 and 2005.

* As Sierra reported in 2001, Sunoco is the only oil company to sign the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) principal. As part of this agreement, Sunoco has made all of its environmental activities--both its successes and failures--publicly available.

I have also previously referred to this site, which ranks Sunoco and Hess as the best with Conoco, Tosco, Phillips 66, Chevron/Texaco, Unocal, Union 76, and Exxon/Mobil/Esso at the bottom.

My wife and I only drive when on vacation. Usually we have a car in Los Angeles. For our trips there we favor Conserv Fuel, which has only a handful of locations. This is the one we know:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/conserv-fuel-biodiesel-b99-los-angeles