OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties. t1 z. w3 g+ Q. p7 [ [
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.) Q& i7 ^7 Z! k3 {1 I8 R: S- @
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the 8 [+ |7 f! E$ [# m$ _1 G( ], adeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. 6 E$ ~$ N7 A& F; v1 V. uLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. . X! G4 t! Z- B8 G" x% o" j Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have 6 ~1 ?" G) ?+ {! p! e }made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to 5 n7 e9 M( m' C2 ?/ }acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.0 k9 k* L L+ C% h% T. Q
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital! c5 C+ e* u8 ^5 Y( e6 g& }
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties - B; I$ d+ r( V/ J) b7 Tover the next three years.* G" ?5 v" e- r
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as: Q/ N+ h6 j+ C# Y
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain8 T" U6 M7 k% r% P$ x' e1 S; a/ v
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the ; \: }2 Y# |& h$ c. V- Eprojects for the next five years.3 x+ o' w: U: ]# k- T" J2 A
(The Canadian Press)