OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties5 L8 V% |2 z/ _( t3 n. m) l* K
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. / O, j Z. o9 F e8 W0 b/ x Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the # B. j+ b- e$ z3 x/ |5 b; bdeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. * \1 K& @5 B6 B. h1 R- i5 g; oLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.: V1 o8 y" u8 T
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have+ r5 a6 P2 T3 c& z* I/ T1 v) m' `
made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to 6 S! i; L# o8 T% l3 s( N* o7 t, ]acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.. S# f5 b& E' A# b8 U
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital 5 G0 v( }% |: aexpenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties ! i& a" {5 t1 Y3 lover the next three years. 7 R$ H3 K$ A p: h They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as& b! q& P6 w" R- `/ z
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain* r- Z2 _7 H) p% [ Y1 b2 u
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the ; d5 j- v! A5 S" b) y3 v$ Cprojects for the next five years.( j9 y5 |$ r. `8 G' h
(The Canadian Press)