OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties ; G( w9 z. K6 k3 a. cowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. ; D }! K8 t* u Y0 B( }' ~# v Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the% b% M( W" } ?6 v
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.- ]) i9 H4 A1 a& N
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. 5 j: t9 y% r- ^, n Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have : @$ r1 ?" s- g4 Z6 a9 n$ B0 E6 P: z2 h- Smade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to / S2 ^( i+ E! p# Eacquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.2 M# v* s9 L4 T$ X
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital# X3 v3 `, {8 u S" F _: k
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties 2 o4 ~ y0 _0 t! e7 e) t3 J! a A5 ~& xover the next three years. * U o7 f: p ?" J! B/ s They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as " g! c Q7 v) `* p- Othey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain# r) L1 t9 l: ^3 m4 [
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the( Z# g* a" _" r! S' S+ r. y2 e
projects for the next five years. 1 \- |; q [' i3 {1 ]6 c (The Canadian Press)