OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties # r N4 i% V k4 v, g7 \owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company.' t9 W- ^1 ]5 w( L& L( x
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the 4 u# V+ a7 y% ?+ \deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co.! z9 U8 w1 k/ C
Ltd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.; J; }) w# P4 X
Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have " [ J9 s3 A) `) l7 I( Rmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to# _! Q* l3 Y2 _2 u
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects.! o# c4 _& Y4 I9 I# I' H( s) E
Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital7 `' r+ B3 J& L4 ?
expenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties$ e' |, S R; Y- i- ]1 D( R5 B
over the next three years.9 }' k1 @$ v* F1 l
They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as & A$ q0 L( l- m* Dthey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain0 m. Q' W8 B8 S7 U+ ~* E
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the ! k9 R+ I# i; Z1 s6 Y7 Wprojects for the next five years.9 ?1 D4 L- H+ m7 t/ R
(The Canadian Press)