OTTAWA - Ottawa has given its blessing to the sale of properties% M4 ]# |5 n- d/ O! Q3 b' @
owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to a Chinese company. # I) v5 ]5 h7 V" E7 e% S Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement says he has reviewed the( ]- g( x; }& N$ n9 N( Z
deal between Athabasca and PetroChina International Investment Co. " M' p! i3 o6 @5 t, l) eLtd. and finds its is likely to be of net benefit to Canada. ; r+ d; o6 u8 x' a- P* a' T Clement says PetroChina and its parent, PetroChina Co. Ltd., have 1 ]( E9 n& M! q" N$ @9 r8 dmade a number of significant commitments should they be allowed to! I& C+ B6 z9 X) f+ e0 s6 L
acquire control of the MacKay and Dover oil sands projects. 1 u l: r- ?) o( V2 E0 Q/ B; }% N Among other things, the Chinese concerns have agreed to capital 7 ]& G8 j1 q/ c2 gexpenditures in excess of $250 million for developing the properties8 V& B+ M: L# K9 Q
over the next three years. ' e, s+ T6 g& \& R They have also pledged to increase employment levels in Canada as 2 _) w2 F/ a( i. p2 q) R% B" o3 Hthey develop the projects over the next three years and to maintain/ [4 M3 N4 z* F, f8 J l1 W6 }
an Alberta head office for operating companies associated with the + E* J/ F+ C: [, `& E+ p: jprojects for the next five years. 6 g* u( p8 w" h2 j) F (The Canadian Press)