Shell has to repay investors who backed its biggest ever wager

London

ROYAL Dutch Shell is under pressure to reward the faith of the more than 80 per cent of shareholders who shrugged off the risks from slumping oil prices to back its record acquisition of BG Group.

That won't be easy: the rout in crude has cut the value of Europe's biggest oil company to the lowest in more than 10 years and raised investor concerns that its dividend is unsustainable. CEO Ben Van Beurden, who expended a lot of political capital convincing investors that BG will help Shell ride the downturn, has to deliver promised benefits from liquefied natural gas to deepwater oil production as billions of dollars of cash flow is choked off.