OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties 4 R2 `1 `( i- _% q! Uowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.1 {* b- d1 ]4 c4 r
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the0 [! ^% @% i0 U$ b+ t
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. ( q+ G1 Y' f k3 T! MLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. ! M0 b0 f% z# b5 ]% b Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have 4 S7 Q. ?7 E- v; ]7 xmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to 9 ]3 j! j; I7 b9 y% h& i Facquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. g* ~5 R% z V B$ a8 Z i
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital5 m( L( X" [0 ^0 r
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties ' N" s7 d1 h/ h/ b2 Jover the next three years.$ u- R" x5 e9 x8 l+ D
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as: _* B1 D) T2 D7 {
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain7 a& m' X3 i3 V! @0 w
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the 7 `& F0 F& y5 h6 ? B0 G, Fprojects for the next five years. 9 p( ~3 q' O$ a- a4 x (The Canadian Press)