OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties ' Z. q" V0 E2 l3 w6 h% g M Aowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.7 g& U# u) Z% j0 {' R5 Y* Y
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the: [; s2 e/ U" |+ i4 v& O
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. [" N+ f7 y" D) G9 g
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.2 o. c) y) p+ ?& ~" n
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have * M, X! A! q2 S: wmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to" ?' b% W( m. V5 | U2 l' M
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. ' S2 c3 e. ^5 w L! ?3 [9 ? _ Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital . X; F% ?$ S! v/ {. f8 t+ w$ ?expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties 8 R3 g& K( |2 ]) U; M; s% @( O' _over the next three years.4 @) S' U- @- ]* n- L, ^
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as ; M/ W( M H; ^' w9 ?% M; j# c' Qthey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain) V; ^9 Q5 \" T& I2 J0 G
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the7 o `! t4 ]/ D" R+ _
projects for the next five years. - Z; u G, K" w8 W (The Canadian Press)