A petrol delivery vehicle drives past a PetroChina gas station in Beijing, March 25, 2010.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and PetroChina Co have been given approval from the Chinese government for their A$3.4 billion ($2.97 billion) acquisition of Australian coal-seam gas company Arrow Energy Ltd, the Australian Financial Review reported citing an unidentified PetroChina spokesman.

The approval from China's National Development and Reform Commission was formally received last week, the newspaper said, citing the spokesman.