A Rio spokesman thanked the support and interest of its 215,000 followers on the social media site.

Google came in second place even though the Googleplex in Sydney was built with a games room designed for Guitar Hero showdowns.

BHP took third place, ahead of Microsoft, while Leighton Contractors took out the fifth spot. The other key subsidiaries of Leighton Holdings also ranked well with Thiess in 10th position and John Holland 19th.

While BHP had considerable petroleum operations, Chevron was the top ranking pure oil and gas company in eighth spot while Shell was 11th, Origin was 12th and Santos was 13th.

Oil and gas engineering house WorleyParsons was ranked 17th and oil giant BP was 18th.

The survey was based on the views of 12,000 LinkedIn respondents.