IT was another day of controversy on the energy front today as the latest results from one of the industry’s biggest players sparked fresh criticism from the political world and the trade union movement, as well as an interesting response by the stock market.

BP found itself in the spotlight once again after reporting first-quarter profits of nearly $5 billion, ahead of market forecasts, leading to a claim from Unite that it is “profiteering” amid the ongoing inflation crisis.

And there was a further attack from Labour on the effectiveness (or otherwise) of the UK’s Government’s windfall tax, introduced last year to curb the extraordinary profits oil and gas companies were making after prices spiked following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Given UK households continue to endure the misery of sky-high energy bills, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the criticism is understandable – even though BP generates the bulk of its profits outside the UK.

For while thousands of people are struggling to pay their bills, BP is returning billions of dollars of surplus cash to investors. Somewhat bizarrely, shares in the company fell sharply today amid a suggestion from one analyst that it was because the market expected the returns to shareholders to be even higher.

But the outlook for dividends and buybacks would not appear to be the only thing muddying the waters for BP. Another analyst raised the prospect of BP’s current run of bumper profits coming to an end, citing uncertainty in the global economy and the recent banking crisis which could see energy prices in wholesale markets continue to fall.

While this may cause concern to investors with an eye on the long term, it will do nothing to soothe the worries of households who are facing severe financial pressure in the here and now, and who have yet to see any benefit from the fall in wholesale gas prices observed in recent months.