Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s $70 billion agreement to buy BG Group Plc may be just the signal that other dealmakers need to make their own energy takeover bets, particularly in the U.S. shale sector. Bankers and analysts say that Shell’s move is telling potential acquirers that one of the biggest players is now confident enough to make a big play – that the fears of a further big slide in oil and gas prices may be fading. Following the more than 50 percent collapse in oil prices since the middle of last year, the market has been too volatile to give buyers and sellers clarity on valuations, bankers say, even as potential acquirers knock on doors to examine a range of assets. The Shell deal with BG brings together two European companies with a global reach. A tie-up will ripple across an energy industry ripe for […]