* 83 pct of Shell shareholders in favour of deal
* BG shareholders to vote on Thursday
* If BG approves, companies will merge on Feb. 15
* Combined company would be biggest LNG trader in world (Adds shareholder comments, details)
By Karolin Schaps
THE HAGUE, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell shareholders approved its $50 billion takeover of BG Group on Wednesday, clearing the last main hurdle to creatingthe biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) trader in the world.
BG shareholders are also expected to approve one of thebiggest deals in the energy sector in the past decade at ameeting on Thursday, a vote that would allow the two oil and gascompanies to merge on Feb. 15.
Few investors have openly challenged the deal's strategicbenefits for Shell. But with oil languishing near $30 a barreland only a slow recovery forecast, some had questioned theviability of a deal that would increase Shell's debt burden.
Shares in BG were up 1.3 percent at 1325 GMT, while Shell'sB shares traded 0.5 percent lower, both outperforming a 0.9percent fall in the European oil and gas index andvaluing Shell's cash and share offer at about $50 billion.
"Our immediate focus is on the successful completion of thetransaction and we now await the results of tomorrow's BGshareholder vote," Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said.
In the vote at the meeting in The Hague, 83 percent of Shellshareholders voted in favour of the deal with 17 percentagainst. More than 40 percent of Shell's shareholders also ownabout half of BG's stock, according to Reuters data.
If the deal is approved by all shareholders Shell willbecome the world's most powerful LNG trader and gain access tovaluable oil resources off Brazil and in Australia.
Some shareholders at Wednesday's meeting had expressedconcern about Shell overpaying for BG, based on the near halvingof oil prices since the deal was announced on April 8 last year.
Shell Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said on Wednesdaythat every $10 decline in the price of a barrel of oil shaves $4billion off the combined Shell-BG cashflow.
The companies expect to save about $3.5 billion inoverlapping costs following their merger.
Other shareholders said they were concerned about Shellbetting more heavily on fossil fuels through the BG deal, ratherthan investing in renewable energy.
"We have voted against this deal because we think there is amuch better way to spend billions: in renewable energy," Markvan Baal, founder of Follow This, a group of Shell shareholderssupporting green energy with about 5 million euros of shares. (Editing by David Clarke)
