OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties ! @7 {" y1 U; E* ?7 u y. ~owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. m: A+ j8 B4 [; J6 y$ q9 Z4 L# C Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the 1 }3 R: D5 S8 P' U b$ r- _deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. ! n1 R+ K& a, Y( K WLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. 3 s# e H/ V3 @9 g0 e4 c$ Q4 e Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have ) K" q1 C7 [9 b5 g6 W, h {made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to' R% A2 C" }: D g! I
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.3 j# w9 a& |% l2 r
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital 5 l; o% m- \ @9 @9 ?expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties ; G) ?9 U) u n+ Z1 v1 g" _over the next three years. $ W _7 |% n( u' H$ I$ r1 h8 c7 c They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as; w, Y' `" c/ J( v7 T
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain7 [$ N' t/ f8 A" G' @7 U) b
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the0 g l0 {2 {3 ?0 y
projects for the next five years. $ E9 g9 |6 u4 z9 @) [ (The Canadian Press)