Canny dealmaking and bold strategic moves have propelled BP into seventh place in the annual ranking of the world’s most respected companies — the first time a UK company has reached the top 10.

Lord Browne, the man who has masterminded the company’s rapid growth through acquisitions, was ranked number five by other chief executives, his highest personal ranking since the survey began eight years ago.

BP’s 57-year-old chief executive has come to be known for his audacious takeovers, which have transformed it into the second-largest publicly traded oil company in the world. At the tail end of the 1990s, BP took over US oil companies Amoco and Arco, followed by the purchase of Burmah Castrol in 2000.

In retrospect, BP moved at precisely the right time, when oil prices were at historic lows. Not all were so prescient. Royal Dutch Shell bet that prices would remain low and missed out on the merger wave altogether, a decision it has since come to regret.

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BP has not sat still. Last month it announced its intention to form a 50-50 joint venture with Hindustan Petroleum, the partially state-owned Indian oil group. If it goes through, the deal will give BP expanded access to India’s rapidly growing market for oil products. BP has also been in talks with Sinopec, China’s biggest producer and marketer of refined oil products, to boost its presence in the world’s other fast-growing market.

Respondents to the survey praise Lord Browne’s decade-long leadership of the company in often breathless terms. “Transformed BP into a world leader,” says one. “Staggering leadership of BP, incredible,” says another.

Many survey responses suggest that BP’s branding exercise emphasising its commitment to the environment has borne fruit, at least among other chief executives.

“They are a very big company and they still care about the environment,” says one.

Others kept their eye firmly on the bottom line. “They earn lots of money and give much value to their shareholders,” one says.

Last year, BP paid its chief executive £3.75m in cash and £1.9m in shares.