OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties! r/ i) R7 I( p' B6 n7 R3 g
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. & Q3 M5 D" A9 _, U Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the+ ?0 I t' F2 ^/ v7 A
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. 9 v6 }6 _* C+ N; {( }. t5 L; {0 cLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. - C% y9 s% D- b3 S- a8 e* C" r Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have 9 ]5 M& F: b* g! B; B6 qmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to6 d# v& G5 M6 n# t0 e8 o
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.7 E; f0 h% `4 L+ s$ H
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital * m8 e6 d2 G& T6 i1 B) f' c) Nexpenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties : ^; @+ y2 A: j! h H- fover the next three years. + e* [/ j0 c4 e0 j: u/ r3 { They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as5 b7 c/ W1 b* h) T: i% @
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain( b1 ~$ Q1 b3 R: v% w
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the& O' i2 l7 W8 }+ @- G
projects for the next five years.! B$ ]8 j' Q. E j( K4 t% b3 k
(The Canadian Press)