OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties- y0 I6 ]6 Y3 e j6 @4 ?
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. 3 l4 F3 Y' [1 _4 x# a1 r Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the# z r) }& D5 F6 r
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. 3 j8 Q. b7 @ Q2 `Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. 8 ?+ |, U5 j( j; c0 m6 X Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have - f+ o! P2 T9 s6 ~made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to, e0 j2 @- p# N8 J- Q- W h
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.) k( j3 l7 O) q) y1 ]' M
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital. J& e* F1 x/ a( [5 N! S' i9 H
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties3 Y4 J ?! _2 \: C) { x
over the next three years. ( @1 Y% F) R% a. K# b They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as * l2 B" N* `. f \they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain; V; y& r: c8 U4 V( @7 P( O
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the2 X2 c7 H/ a2 E2 {6 }2 j% W
projects for the next five years.) x- f3 c' s# B
(The Canadian Press)