OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties 4 ~. F/ ]' ^6 G! D1 c9 Wowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. 2 r2 x6 a* x+ b Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the) Y' e0 C$ e$ Z5 s1 I
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.8 `5 ?7 F4 G( e9 ~0 s
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. ; M" w! @. Z! _/ v* d F( E6 f Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have8 s) D( q+ f& ~! k7 P# |+ h
made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to " s4 ~2 a q6 k" N/ F/ w3 }! Q' Lacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.9 g% `% a# q# A" `; W
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital9 s7 h" \. ]& p* C- ^: Z
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties6 x7 Z* V4 _! S' |4 ?8 w$ m
over the next three years.5 I- G' h$ C) C
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as 1 J: W" v8 }& N2 b. y( S6 Othey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain 9 {$ Q' t/ N7 Ban Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the9 O; T3 ~6 G" U8 |) g d, ^
projects for the next five years. z7 i$ b' s% L* y
(The Canadian Press)