OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties% u9 H J% n7 _ W; u: S1 P% y
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. & C5 b. v! _6 {3 S4 i$ S5 ^ Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the7 G9 {" ]0 C5 J' A7 g) e8 j
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.# L4 h$ O1 {- E9 r
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. ' o: ~4 u* U5 X1 w Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have6 X8 E0 b* w% l6 V
made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to i0 \4 h* M. c6 u5 racquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. " W8 x5 I8 y) g2 L Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital 9 c! I; W2 \3 c& mexpenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties 4 s! s4 k3 Q7 P3 @: Z6 iover the next three years.! L! K: t+ ~* _
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as ; m4 t) o" ] X! k- Qthey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain/ V" D: [+ q4 y6 C" n
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the$ f( |4 e* v, s: V4 G1 c/ B4 J) z
projects for the next five years. 4 f1 W3 L# ~! J (The Canadian Press)