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A cash machine. That was how Bernard Looney, the chief executive of BP, described his company back in November following last year's sharp rise in global oil and gas prices. And the size of the company's bank balance has now duly been revealed: profits just shy of 10bn last year - the highest in eight years.

Clearly, these are windfall gains. BP had not expected a fivefold increase in the wholesale price of gas during 2021. Nor did it forecast that the cost of crude oil would currently be nudging its way towards $100 a barrel.