A decision on Shell’s takeover of BG Group by Australia’s competition watchdog has been postponed until the middle of November.
The move follows an earlier deferral last month by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
It said last month that market participants had expressed concerns the takeover may harm gas supply competition in eastern Australia.
The ACCC said it was concerned about Shell’s Arrow Energy and if it was to sell gas into BG’s Queensland Curtis liquefied natural gas plant.
The commission said the delay would allow additional time to consider the “proposed acquisition”.
The takeover has already been cleared by EU, US and Brazilian anti-trust authorities.
However it still needs approvals from Australia and China to go ahead.
The ACCC is also in the midst of evaluating a number of other deals, including Halliburton Co’s $35 billion takeover of Baker Hughes Inc and a $6.5 billion takeover of freight firm Asciano Ltd by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management.