Lex: BP / Devon

BP on Thursday confirmed it would enter the deep waters off the coast of Brazil, one of the world's most promising areas for oil exploration, with a $7bn (£4.7bn) deal to buy international oil and gas assets from Devon Energy. Under the terms of the deal, BP will also expand its operations in the Gulf of Mexico, where it is already the largest producer of oil and gas, and increase its interests in Azerbaijan. John Paul Rathbone analyses the deal.