OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties" }8 l) D, R/ V/ h- M- i6 T" `
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. 2 U/ @2 s. k' G6 z1 X Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the ( c: ^! y9 N+ T# R6 K$ ` Rdeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. . D! g1 i( P9 i% BLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.8 n& z% d' `, v8 I5 Z
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have 4 c2 s( n3 l$ Imade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to - A J8 s% y; ?* |0 A! p4 U kacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.8 Z" |( f" B5 B
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital# T+ F: s" `; I: Q2 A! H
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties - e2 B- {. ^/ @- b- h+ ^3 Kover the next three years. 1 n7 s/ _9 A! `# b: b- U They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as+ N8 {. M* ~* K& A3 I* ^" Y# }
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain: k" m" o' O. p) u
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the, \* t' c$ H! s1 e- l
projects for the next five years. . h' K! W; V4 z4 G (The Canadian Press)