OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties- D' Z& h7 N. {. U4 ^
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. 6 D' n2 P h/ F Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the1 C J/ O9 ^# M: q
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co." q- {. I5 j) M* G$ b+ [
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.: Q* W7 Q8 e' h. W' B
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have ! g; H: `0 E: l% J$ F6 Z' ]/ Cmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to 0 a7 R* B- X6 q* wacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.& I1 M: g, ]. R X3 H) V
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital8 e0 ^3 K7 h5 [ q3 J
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties ' E# o3 }* ~- R; }; s) @) ^8 wover the next three years. - I* i' O) q3 A) I* ]: c They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as) g# k" R* }$ R( L9 E7 W0 a
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain 8 t# v3 O* [$ f Pan Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the ) W# V T& c5 ~9 Q I" Sprojects for the next five years. % g/ V* d2 a1 f) b' X- d& h (The Canadian Press)