In the last few months, Royal Dutch Shell and BG aligned to create a major new oil and gas group in Europe to rival ExxonMobil in the US. It was a move that Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, suggested ‘will act as a catalyst for accelerating the reshaping’ of their business.

This merger represents a long-term business decision, designed to help Shell compete among the world’s largest publicly quoted energy groups, and designed to help secure its future. It has also proved slightly controversial, given the amount paid and the collapse in the oil price. As such, Shell’s decision to stick to the deal represents the type of confident decision-making that is all too seldom made.

I