OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties . n, ]1 `. Q1 Mowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.8 _8 C; ~3 s' ?+ L9 t
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the 4 q3 \) O; v7 Y }7 X& d0 d" sdeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. 6 a5 O; q8 Q4 o; LLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. : _. B9 z6 b$ l' V3 J0 k% s Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have ( R( e" h3 z# E vmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to 5 h0 H$ ^! H! g3 B; K% tacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.0 c, J: P* ~8 N- }
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital- Z, y: m( B% Z: z( E7 ]
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties / Q3 B5 g4 q3 [6 Lover the next three years. ?. u# o3 M* u9 t! R7 b- B V They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as) L: n8 q0 A: P3 a; a+ T
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain% Q0 y! l' h. K6 j& i) V& i( P
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the 6 _: v7 K# o1 U$ c; k) y0 Cprojects for the next five years.9 M3 {" G. a0 D
(The Canadian Press)