OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties / M6 O: V3 k8 B+ |4 downed by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. 5 ]6 N f$ {; U' P4 P Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the- e/ w# k, t' D' Y
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. . t& @3 q" | dLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.* G$ j8 H$ Q) m9 S
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have ! Q7 V' u! R$ I$ d# {made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to$ ?2 \& w' {2 _0 J x j! N
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. 5 ^/ W6 n; v+ M F" s) ` Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital3 N% S' H1 r2 d: W% B6 Z
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties 3 D: j' {7 |% }+ a6 T% w& P% k) Sover the next three years.* a! i# n# ]7 v% O% i8 q
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as2 C1 {& n0 w) n2 z! v- P6 o
they develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain 5 L( s. o* t/ \4 |# qan Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the " V$ S" \8 c; i' D5 Gprojects for the next five years. ) h c5 ^. o2 f8 { (The Canadian Press)