OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties 2 r3 o* a1 s! _! Vowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. ; j+ u: V ` F* x; v2 ^7 B3 G Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the: T+ C) s8 R( I$ T8 O: L
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.& {/ b7 r- x8 A5 U* @$ b
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. J/ y: t4 f/ X1 A# O
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have- a2 B; a$ J" ?) H W9 S3 h/ \
made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to 8 |9 E1 P) e- f$ ^: w# pacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.4 i7 K4 L& @1 A/ c) V6 g
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital& ^" m4 Y. B9 n. o) N$ r: F% M
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties l# @/ d3 x% i5 w+ ^& e+ M4 Uover the next three years." P6 K) f* O0 V% m9 i/ L! {& E$ P8 G
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as4 S$ O8 U" z+ X" A7 k
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain . A0 G2 Q3 P) k% ?! qan Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the , i+ f6 L* `4 V6 c' u; c" U" n! V6 Hprojects for the next five years.' F" F" H" v5 j0 f! G! C
(The Canadian Press)