OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties y3 v' {# k( a I; t) v8 Yowned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.& p& R; Y- }; |* l9 a* O5 p
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the # `. y/ G3 ~. x' Fdeal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. # H5 P! W5 y" k/ `Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. * W8 i7 ]/ K& b% V9 P& w Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have, e: q* s8 b T1 s
made a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to . d2 g ~5 P9 Q7 ]6 }$ Facquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. - z$ `: i# T; {# R a8 R Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital- D' l0 m. E1 t8 q
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties+ G, D5 c1 N0 b5 a7 ]
over the next three years.' ?. }5 h$ l3 t& N' q% _4 A9 ]
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as $ X( P* H* ^! p; a vthey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain& K; e G) A/ \# f
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the ! F( D4 g$ k: W# e5 h9 B ]$ Z' [projects for the next five years.( |$ Q& n5 \9 R
(The Canadian Press)