OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties $ m) @2 s! P8 d; F) Xowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.5 |2 Y/ N* y2 y: o( w
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the & a* r2 S7 Q& h9 Y3 N& a9 rdeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. 1 I$ r3 W- ~5 ]" H. e5 U$ \Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. ) u# n! i8 K( U Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have ! k+ u' I1 N S ?$ [+ g7 ]made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to/ \0 Z- }0 d0 |/ A3 x$ t5 ?
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.) ~5 r6 {+ \3 L. S' U
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital # S1 y; f6 K7 M6 }. Pexpenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties - Z! r X. a) i& y3 R2 _: f% _over the next three years. ; a2 D5 x* @( d6 Z: f+ g$ u They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as " [9 |* m& B8 I! l- Cthey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain! y* A4 H) O0 b% O/ b+ e, _
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the9 q/ j9 A& b$ h. q" y" L. b
projects for the next five years.2 U( U$ G6 u3 ]$ z4 T( ]
(The Canadian Press)