Shell’s proposed £47 billion takeover of UK’s BG Group has been given the thumbs up by the Australian Foreign Investment Board.

It is the final approval from Australia and follows the green light from the nation’s competition authorities last month.

The agreement will add around 25% to Shell’s oil and gas reserves and 20% to production as well as provide it with “enhanced positions” in competitive new oil and gas projects, particularly in Australia LNG and Brazil deep water, the company said.

Ben van Beurden, CEO of Shell said: “BG will accelerate Shell’s financial growth strategy, particularly in deepwater and liquefied natural gas: two of Shell’s growth priorities and areas where the company is already one of the industry leaders. Furthermore, the addition of BG’s competitive natural gas positions makes strategic sense, ahead of the long-term growth in demand we see for this cleaner-burning fuel.”

The energy giant has so far been granted approval from Brazil, EU and the US.