Guardian: Shell has strengthened its hold on Australia’s bulging gas reserves after Arrow Energy agreed to a joint $3.2bn (£2.1bn) takeover by the Anglo-Dutch oil company and PetroChina, which is majority-owned by the Chinese government. The deal, which has to be approved by the coal-seam gas producer’s shareholders and Australian regulators, will also reinforce Shell’s relations with Beijing. At Shell’s strategy update last week, finance director Simon Henry told the Guardian the …