OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties, H! G8 ~7 }% J4 L& @7 t! ]
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. 0 P/ R' [1 n q2 X Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the ) f) x2 x9 P* z# k: ]* t9 G1 odeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.) q E; y- R5 c
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.1 G! K K* c3 ~0 Q- ^" b
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have& h4 P* {: q W" s- b
made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to 4 m" C6 d' T2 _; s/ _acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. ! @- B, n! C. s! z$ y5 m Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital; i, g9 b' p/ E+ W3 q+ R
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties! G9 n: _+ a0 t/ W2 o; K
over the next three years.$ `" G# r2 s/ P. H
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as " J, H# l6 n% g" lthey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain # r7 Y/ k8 V7 X ban Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the $ G# d1 ^1 e5 F+ U+ J$ Yprojects for the next five years. % T2 J5 {& E) @$ a1 H (The Canadian Press)