OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties 1 h/ A* J3 P. y9 J. N% d) D+ ~8 K7 Downed by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. 0 @1 d2 j3 Z% v2 F) F Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the ( T# S4 R; S3 E$ Kdeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.! g4 E; P( [# [2 z, ?& q1 `
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.2 N0 S+ X- e; j' y
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have ' A+ W7 }* L2 vmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to : P( Q& j: v. u; `acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects." O. w' B3 ?/ [9 N `! \9 `) C# Y( u
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital* S- ~% O% ]7 }8 w1 t7 F t
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties ) D; p5 c% v& {" W, Tover the next three years.% N; J4 f3 j2 C( |4 I$ l
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as/ W6 a- H6 ~ Y/ V; x+ Z
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain " A, `% ~# q) b+ W" san Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the " p6 k! p0 ^' q& ]: ~% pprojects for the next five years.9 ?$ [0 K9 C# z( p1 k( F
(The Canadian Press)