Royal Dutch Shell announced plans to cut a further 2,800 jobs as the oil major’s increasingly contentious £36 billion takeover of BG Group received clearance from the Chinese competition authorities.
The Chinese ministry of commerce followed the authorities in Brazil, the European Union and Australia by approving the merger, which will create a company supplying about 30 per cent of China’s natural gas imports.
However, there was more worry for Shell and BG workers as the company confirmed that the tie-up would result in even more job losses than previously thought, with Shell saying that a total of more than 10,000 staff would be made redundant.
Although regulators have been waving the proposed combination through, shareholders in both BG and Shell have yet to approve