OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties5 M$ m3 Y' n$ D! t/ H5 Z
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company." n8 u+ Z/ {$ T S0 P: _) ^
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the % n" D% ^7 E8 p) Hdeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.# D6 ^9 R$ ~0 L
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. 5 K$ V9 u* E5 V: }* C Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have & P; M* x# ^* H% }" A5 ] mmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to 2 {# D& B5 F$ f4 g* J! H0 kacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. 8 N2 N. S h: l% y: o* ] Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital 8 b. D3 X3 q% rexpenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties 7 c! s* N3 z' M4 S3 h; v2 S' vover the next three years.7 G8 g7 O$ `; {
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as2 ]0 `/ z! G$ C' a+ ~2 J' v
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain \1 ] F# W1 I: S# l4 s% i8 \. `an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the 8 {8 }1 J" g! \ p4 A; Z5 p4 u1 _! S9 Cprojects for the next five years. 9 e& p9 K; v6 c k (The Canadian Press)