BP faced a further serious attack on its integrity this week with the disclosure that United States federal investigators were looking into allegations that it had manipulated oil and unleaded gasoline markets. The latest setback came 24 hours after Lord Browne, the chief executive, was told by a US state judge that he would have to personally testify in death and injuries cases resulting from the Texas City refinery fire last year.

The young man in the checked yellow shirt and khaki shorts stood out from the army of grey-haired and smartly dressed pensioners who made up the bulk of the Shell investors. But his message to the oil company at its annual meeting this week — that it was ”astonishingly hypocritical” — was far from unique.

BP has polished its green credentials — and pleased Arnold Schwarzenegger — by announcing plans for a revolutionary hydrogen-fuelled power plant in California costing -billion. The facility will be able to generate electricity with almost no carbon emissions by converting the waste product of oil refineries into hydrogen and separating off carbon dioxide for capture and storage.

BP announced recently it is to build the biggest alternative power business in the world, capable of producing -billion worth of revenues a year from projects in Britain and abroad within 10 years. The move came on the eve of an announcement by British Prime Minister Tony Blair that he would launch a six-month energy review that many believe will open the door to a new generation of nuclear plants.