OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties / o8 j2 u4 V/ j& ]' Oowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.! x1 s1 n/ [$ L
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the1 Q: w& \' d x# V
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.5 s5 `$ A, R0 ]; r: \# @
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. ; K7 [* W1 V7 V# K. w; U& \% x5 W Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have ! P) N' _3 R/ {made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to3 Y; s C2 Q! ]& C* I; L
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. 8 U0 E8 ~ N4 }! w5 E) z& N Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital' }( ^1 g5 y$ d& A$ g+ M
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties 4 V* z) j6 n7 S$ H0 dover the next three years. , \+ w; Z6 n& C2 |. `( g They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as" x5 V* x& ?5 a- s8 S) A5 Q- ~
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain9 f6 s1 ^ O7 H8 q' m: [4 k! ^
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the & W( \2 g' {; P( c1 kprojects for the next five years.9 `/ K, \% g0 C7 J. D D
(The Canadian Press)