From Prof Paul Hallwood.

Sir, If only we could all have the problems that Jonathan Wheatley reports in his article “In search of the perfect production partnership” (July 8). Brazil and Petrobras are blessed with theirs when it comes to exploiting the Tupi oil deposits. As a senior North Sea oil company executive once quipped to me: “We aim to own as little as possible” – just the leaseblock concession rights. The point he was making was that almost everything an oil company needs for exploration, development and production of offshore oil is available on the market. Even new deep-water technologies were developed with market-related partners.