The Prime Minister’s COP-in on climate change has raised plenty of scathing comments about the Conservative party’s consistent track record of U-turns, but industry executives are far more agitated that Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are readying to raise the windfall tax on oil and gas companies to help plug the hole in public finances. 

Arguments in favour were bolstered on Monday when BP unveiled another extraordinary jump in profits. The energy giant raked in £7.1 billion during the third quarter, up from £2.9bn a year earlier, and announced plans to return some £2.2bn of this to investors via a share buyback. 

It certainly isn’t a good look as the UK heads into winter with a great many households struggling to pay for heating and fearful of what will happen when support for fuel bills is cut off next spring. However, BP is far from alone in this profits bonanza which has re-ignited investor interest in the sector. 

This was evident on Wednesday after Ithaca Energy, the oil company in charge of the controversial Cambo field off Shetland, won strong backing for its forthcoming flotation on the London Stock Exchange. Ithaca’s Israeli owner, Delek Group, is said to have enough interest from potential investors to sell off at least 10 per cent of the company in an IPO that could value Ithaca at up to £3.1bn. 

On the same day West of Shetland oil pioneer Hurricane Energy saw its shares surge after it revealed that it had received an unsolicited cash offer to take over the company. 

It marked a dramatic turnaround in Hurricane’s fortunes after it was forced last year to give control to its creditors in a debt-for-equity swap as its share price fell to less than a penny. Hurricane has rejected the offer of 7.7p per share from the unnamed bidder and launched a formal sale process in pursuit of a higher price tag. 

Despite all this fervour, the UK’s largest oil and gas producer has warned Mr Sunak against toughening up the windfall tax. Harbour Energy – which operates huge North Sea assets such as the Greater Britannia Area and Catcher field – has urged the Government to “carefully consider the consequences” of increasing the Energy Profits Levy as it could drive producers to invest elsewhere around the world. 

With the economy sliding into a deep recession and an estimated black hole of £30bn or more in the public finances, such pleas from the oil industry look set to fall on deaf ears at the Treasury. 

A major survey earlier this week found that more than a third of hospitality businesses across the UK are at risk of folding by the early part of next year as rampant inflation has created a surge in the cost of doing business and a plunge in consumer confidence. Industry leaders are calling for a cut in value added tax to prop up the sector, with 77% of operators stating they have seen a decrease in people eating and drinking out and 85% expecting this to decline further.

Meanwhile, mortgage approvals are declining as rising interest rates and cost-of-living concerns weigh heavily on home buying activity. Latest official figures for September have bolstered predictions of a fall in house prices in the coming months.

The Bank of England increased interest rates by 75 basis points on Thursday to 3%, but economists say the prospect of tighter fiscal policy from the Chancellor's statement on November 17 means further aggressive moves are less likely. 

Amid the mountains of economic challenges, those oil and gas profits may look just too good to pass up.