The industry has done little to win over the motorist. Oil companies were partly blamed for last summer's fuel crisis.
British drivers pay the highest pump prices in Europe, while the oil companies post record profits.
It was the Conservatives which introduced a link between higher petrol prices and higher taxation under the so-called fuel escalator. This would mean that industry, not consumers, would bear the burden of taxation. The chancellor is restrained by corporate logic. He is aware that big oil is highly mobile and will take its investment elsewhere if it deems the climate in Britain no longer attractive. The oil industry is certainly awash with cash.