OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties 4 \0 \5 @9 q% C3 Sowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.3 M" k) M5 T$ F9 }2 e
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the 3 ]2 L4 c6 }; T% m& t2 ideal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. $ ]# a' C) q9 w5 g4 YLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.& D% s3 b9 n2 H
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have8 Y& D1 T& s$ f- A) I% d
made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to $ F K5 Z+ \5 v W6 R2 f' ?7 t# Cacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.& d+ o/ i7 q9 S$ v3 S
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital! Z0 X$ q6 e: k @$ p' L6 Q' h, Q, c4 w
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties' T9 U( c7 ?( e6 @9 n5 w# v
over the next three years.+ c0 g$ E0 O% c. C& ?$ @0 l3 {2 n
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as7 |- a0 m" b5 Y" j- }4 w
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain 0 z! _4 t3 P; R1 Ran Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the: r3 `$ S" x6 R$ J6 W* L) \
projects for the next five years. 8 n" Z1 S4 I( a% m0 ]1 c (The Canadian Press)