Despite the uncertain future facing the oil and gas industry, Royal Dutch Shell is planning to take over the UK energy giant BG Group. The cash-and-shares offer is valued at GBP 47bn and is already being hailed as one of the biggest deals of the year. The merger could create a company with a value exceeding GBP 200bn. While oil prices have fallen by 50 percent over the last six months, Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive, said he plans to invest GBP 4bn between 2016 and 2018 into North Sea oil exploration. Established in 1997, BP Group is the UK’s third largest energy producer with about 5,200 employees in 24 countries.
