Claims that a hike in the North Sea windfall tax would prompt an exodus from the area by oil and gas firms are looking increasingly overblown amid a clamour for assets off Scotland.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves provoked fury in the industry when she increased the rate of the tax in the Budget in October in a move that critics claimed would backfire.

They said that following a series of increases in the tax burden since the Energy Profits Levy was introduced in 2022 the latest rise could provoke firms into shutting down fields and curbing plans for investment.

When Apache announced it would cease North Sea operations by 2029 critics regaled Ms Reeves with cries of “I told you so”.

But Apache had been shaping up to quit the North Sea for ages.

READ MORE: North Sea jobs under threat as embattled engineering giant cuts costs

Updates from leading players have suggested that rather than killing off interest in the area the Budget tax changes have encouraged opportunists to take a closer look with acquisitions on the agenda for leading firms.

This month North Sea-focused EnQuest said it was working on a range of deals that would help the London-listed company to deliver “significant value-accretive growth in the UK”.

The statement came weeks after EnQuest unveiled an $84 million (70m) deal to acquire Harbour Energy’s assets in Vietnam in support of the diversification drive it accelerated after the windfall tax hike.

At the foot of the announcement about the Vietnam deal was a comment by EnQuest chief executive Amjad Bseisu that attracted less attention, in which he said the firm was working towards a “transformational transaction” in the North Sea.

Mr Bseisu appears to have had a change of heart since making a scathing attack on the........

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