European Commission approves Shell's purchase of BG Group

The European Commission gave its approval Wednesday of Royal Dutch Shell's planned acquisition of Britain's BG Group in a deal that must also be cleared by Australian and Chinese regulators.

The Commission said the planned £47-billion (64-billion-euro, $71.9-billion) hook-up of Shell and energy group BG "would not raise competition concerns" in either their oil or liquefied natural gas (LNG) activities.

"The transaction was cleared as it will not grant Shell market power in oil and gas exploration, LNG liquefaction or LNG wholesale supply. Shell will also not be able to prevent competitors from using its gas infrastructure in the North Sea," a Commission statement said.

In its own statement on the European decision, BG noted that "other pre-conditional approvals are required from Australia (anti-trust and foreign investment) and China (anti-trust) and regulatory filings have been submitted for each of these approvals."

BG also said the deal -- which was announced April 8 with the support of executives in both companies hoping to close it by early 2016 -- "will also require support from both BG Group and Shell shareholders."

If completed, the deal would lift Shell into the world's second position behind US giant ExxonMobil, and lend it considerable heft during a difficult period for the sector, as it struggles with plummeting oil prices.