Industry leaders from the likes of EDF, SSE, Shell and BP met Grant Shapps, the energy security secretary, just days after the government announced it would grant more than 100 new oil and gas licences off the coast of Scotland - a move critics claim would drive "a wrecking ball through the UK's climate commitments".

Mr Shapps said afterwards firms had been in agreement there were "immense opportunities ahead" to "accelerate investment into renewables, bring down bills and deliver on net zero".

He said projects across the energy sector worth as much as £100bn over the next decade were discussed - and said it was vital the government collaborated with industry to achieve them.

David Bunch, chair of Shell UK, described the summit as "productive," while the head of industry body Energy UK, Emma Pinchbeck, said the companies were "fully committed to working with government".

Ruth Herbert, chief executive of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association, welcomed the government's backing of projects from its industry, but came away from the meeting saying "we still need clarity" on the timeline of its support.

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'It would be mad' not to pursue North Sea oil

The summit came after Mr Sunak defended the new oil and gas licences, arguing that using domestic oil and gas saved "two, three, four times the amount of carbon emissions" than "shipping it from halfway around the world".

However, he was criticised by those in his own party, including former energy minister Chris Skidmore, who said it was "the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time, when the rest of the world is experiencing record heatwaves".

Questions have also been raised over what impact domestic drilling will have on the UK's energy supplies, as fossil fuels gathered in the North Sea will still go into the international market, and it will be up to private firms whether to send it back or not.

Earlier, Mr Shapps could not confirm how much of the newly sourced energy would remain on UK shores, but he insisted drilling at home would save "four times the amount of carbon" than importing supplies.

He told Sky News it would be "nonsensical" not to grant new licences, adding: "Not only would it mean that we are at the behest of foreign nations, not only would it mean that 200,000 people who work in the oil and gas industries jobs' will gradually be put at risk, not only would it mean we wouldn't get billions of pounds of taxation from those oil and gas companies - worst of all, it would also mean it would quadruple the amounts of CO2 coming into the country.

"It would be a mad policy not to grant these oil and gas licences. We're doing it because it gives us energy security, British energy and made here in the UK, and because it actually decreases, not increases, the amount of carbon."

Mr Shapps had been expected to highlight the government's North Sea announcement during his meetings on Wednesday, as well as the steps it has taken to bear down on protest groups such as Just Stop Oil - whom the Tories are keen to portray as closely aligned to the Labour Party.

According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Shell UK plans to invest £20-25bn in the UK energy system over the next 10 years, while BP intends to invest up to £18bn in the UK by the end of 2030.

SSE plc has also announced plans to invest £18bn up to 2027 in low-carbon infrastructure and National Grid plc will be investing over £16bn in the five-year period to 2026. EDF has outlined plans to invest £13bn in the years to 2025.

Debate over 'monster profits'

The meeting with Mr Shapps comes just weeks after the Uxbridge by-election sparked a debate within both of Britain's main parties over how to sell green policies to the public, after Labour's narrow defeat was blamed on Sadiq Khan's ultra low emission zone's (ULEZ) planned expansion to outer London.

The result has prompted MPs on the right of the Conservative Party to appeal to the prime minister to rethink the government's net zero commitments, with calls for delays to a number of targets - including delaying the planned ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035.

Another pressure bearing on Mr Sunak is over whether the government should keep its oil and windfall tax after BP last week reported £2bn in net profits.

The £2bn figure was in fact half the $5bn (£4bn) profit the firm achieved in the preceding three months in the first quarter of 2023.

The Liberal Democrats said that nevertheless, the "monster profits" would be a "nasty shock to families who couldn't afford to heat their homes this year".

The party's Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said: "The government shouldn't be hoodwinked to remove the windfall tax by this profit drop. Let's be frank, these are still huge.

"No family should go cold next winter because the government backed down on taxing the likes of BP.

"It is time to put the needs of struggling families and pensioners over the wallets of global oil firms."

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The government has said it will end the windfall tax on bumper oil and gas profits in 2028 if prices drop.

The windfall tax - 75% of North Sea oil and gas production profits - will continue for the next five years but if prices fall to historically normal levels for six months, the tax rate for oil and gas companies will return to 40%.

Companies do not pay the full 75% or 40% rate as they can offset tax liabilities on investments they make.

The windfall tax, which is also known as the energy profits levy, has raised around £2.8bn to date and is expected to raise almost £26bn by March 2028, according to the government.

Asked about BP's profits during a visit to Teesside's transmission system gas terminal on Tuesday, Mr Shapps said: "I think what people want to know is that they [BP] are being properly taxed, and we've been taxing them 75% of their profits through this windfall tax, and that we've used that money to pay about £1,500 per household to cover people's energy bills this last winter."

"It may not have felt that way, but [bills] would have been £1,500 on average higher if we hadn't taxed the energy companies," he added.