PetroChina Acquires Remainder Of Oil Sands Project

PetroChina PTR, China's largest oil company, will pay $673 million for the 40% of the MacKay River oil sands project in Canada the Chinese firm didn't already own. Canada's Athabasca Oil Sands sold a 60% interest in the oil sands project to PetroChina last year to raise cash. By some estimates, Canada's oil sands region is home to the world's second-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia. Other estimates say the oil sands are third to only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. In 2010, PetroChina said it planned to spend $60 billion on acquisitions over the next decade in an effort to meet China's soaring domestic demand for oil. The MacKay River project is expected to have initial production of 35,000 barrels per day with that number eventually rising to 150,000 barrels per day. Construction of the project will begin next month with startup targeted for 2014, according to the Globe and Mail.