OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties' {5 H2 ^( w5 q+ P
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. * a' c0 T3 i5 ~# l# a Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the % K6 K& q' w5 M( J7 _+ ydeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. * T: h9 F: e9 ?; P9 }6 _Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.: ?9 L) f+ g$ f# j( T% `
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have/ x7 ]( D$ {. z0 V4 `
made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to - X4 e! o$ Y( a) p! }acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. 9 d1 {! g3 L' ?4 K Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital4 P- U. C7 v7 j( U! F* M- R& O
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties3 ?$ E: m1 Y4 G( S$ A
over the next three years.+ Y- [8 [; {4 m' |0 W7 k- Q/ r+ W
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as8 S" I A1 P$ b! T4 h3 e& k' V% m
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain: F1 P7 V6 s. a: O
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the3 `/ q- J9 T/ o% m y3 L& L! p+ W, G7 n
projects for the next five years. ( a) b8 p2 b9 y' o4 J8 L: w' A N (The Canadian Press)