OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties 9 Z# X8 F! N! W1 k9 q' u; @5 Downed by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.$ i; B2 g8 C7 W
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the 7 R* N% p* T7 r8 }% j4 R4 M5 Hdeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. # K1 k- U6 T! K2 Y* R! Q. qLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. # G+ |# q& r0 L' D) M Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have9 R0 s N+ }9 |8 e# q
made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to8 z3 a5 }# c6 C/ s8 ^6 s& Z
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.; w6 \" u l+ p/ w8 |5 h8 n1 A/ s
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital/ p3 r6 y9 P7 m3 ^
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties ' w$ F) x6 r; r: C% {/ f7 Z1 jover the next three years. ' G& B0 Z6 b: ~% v; z They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as8 o% |( F8 Z8 J( W$ p; C3 \
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain1 }" N/ _* J3 D5 S% ?1 S$ z
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the 1 ?2 U+ Z* u& nprojects for the next five years. ) `" A/ A1 G8 G+ T! @ (The Canadian Press)