OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties $ Q* B( x/ w* P( p8 {owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.$ o; N* b9 `7 i6 |4 i
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the $ t+ A4 j" l n+ G; F+ \deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.! r7 Y! x* v6 [2 _# b
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. 8 k: T+ a3 v0 S$ ?+ g9 v Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have * `6 [8 h3 [. Q' i* N0 S5 n( ^made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to6 z6 u7 o2 l Y3 i# c
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.# ^. V! Q4 K* n- v" n7 N2 s" C" ^
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital* j: w; F [3 I+ T9 y" _5 h
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties; Z$ m( v7 I, e8 q' d/ s) P
over the next three years. $ M. Q5 i7 I" m9 r+ R! m& T+ K They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as " b% Q \3 B8 i: p* n R, J! `! x9 ^; Sthey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain `# u; {: v j$ s; J1 Z
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the5 P( _6 h- I5 [+ X- w0 {9 R, I* _
projects for the next five years.% J6 |6 h6 t! |9 {+ k5 m5 G
(The Canadian Press)