OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties 3 O4 Q+ ]; h9 r- towned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.! A; j7 Y! P* G) ]
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the : K5 W: S. m4 y; _8 q7 Z# I3 zdeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.6 q1 w J; T/ L1 L' u* F5 c
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. + U+ p# P- _5 u Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have 5 B" ~4 ?) v. H7 |! jmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to * z+ i$ V" }6 T0 r& d' F# q) X. hacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. & f3 b2 T" C8 _( k1 i Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital - c/ \0 n6 w* f' g! e8 v' M# Qexpenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties% j' f t1 Q2 n7 K8 c$ S
over the next three years.7 ?1 L! k+ A) M9 R7 j* A/ n
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as' v/ A8 V* q2 F# a1 o% [
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain0 S6 X& B- J6 W5 J
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the% I" p! B! z& _
projects for the next five years.2 P6 ~4 U5 W* z; X
(The Canadian Press)