--FILE--Pedestrians walk past the headquarters building of CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation), parent company of PetroChina, in Beijing, China, 13 July 2014. Athabasca Oil Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp., one of Chinas largest state-run energy companies, said Wednesday (30 July 2014) they expect to close a $1.23 billion deal for a Canadian oil sands operation which was unveiled in April. Mao Zefeng, who works on investor relations for PetroChina Co., CNPCs listed subsidiary, confirmed that he met with investors in New York in recent weeks, and responded to their questions over the deal for the oil sands project in northern Alberta. I said that as far as I know there is not any sign that PetroChina will not proceed with this project, said Mr. Mao. A representative for Athabasca said the company is working with CNPC executives in Canada toward completing a deal, but declined to provide a timeline.
