OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties C. r& d4 c$ V6 lowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. 3 f1 t" g4 F7 o$ n7 B# t Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the * d: v$ [8 B+ }9 `deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.) Z1 {9 J' W7 ~6 k
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.* D; W6 F) w1 h! q! M+ w
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have # V+ U. K3 o- W) r. A$ C+ Bmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to & R6 j4 S* y1 N0 Z+ I' F" _! Tacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. , x! t) F* n8 y9 { Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital 3 k7 U' E+ T& yexpenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties ( u7 ?% A6 W& q: K3 x7 ]over the next three years. $ Q1 q# C- G) G% ^" V: Q7 W4 ] They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as0 l( g' S5 E* a
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain , |2 v' Q( u& A% _/ k8 nan Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the& C6 x5 ^/ Q4 C: k; x1 \
projects for the next five years. Z4 Q7 E5 s: V7 R6 N6 n$ X8 W- x' T (The Canadian Press)