OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties4 S4 J6 |6 K" s2 O( M
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.! ^- u7 I! v- w
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the* ]3 @ V8 u6 W( N
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.3 i( _2 {$ p1 x) Y* }- \
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. " F3 P: Z0 q7 m" M6 G Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have $ a, w2 i) g& \$ lmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to # m- Y# s/ N2 xacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. ( F3 o/ b/ u4 [. W& r Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital2 @3 s1 G# \ B- [ h/ W
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties$ } A- o/ t# N# R
over the next three years. ( k' B3 v) e5 I. U* ^; g( \7 k They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as! C/ @: P3 ?1 d- X3 \# _
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain" F& x! a- [) ^+ H
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the* W3 `' x3 L/ A5 D R4 z
projects for the next five years. 5 P2 s% E# ^$ L- R (The Canadian Press)