China National Petroleum Corp became the first Chinese oil producer to manage a Canadian oil sand project, obtaining rights to exploit 11 fields covering almost 260 square kilometers in Alberta province, Economic Daily reported, citing the Ministry of Commerce. The fields are estimated to be able to produce up to 220,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The majority of Canada’s proven crude reserves have been discovered in Alberta’s oil sand, which have been claimed by the Alberta government to be the largest in world, containing 175 billion barrels of recoverable oil. However, oil sand exploitation is uneconomic when oil prices are low because extracting crude oil from oil sand costs more than traditional drilling.

Chinese automakers will consume 12.6 million tons of rolled steel in 2007, including 9.4 million tons of steel plates and 3.2 million tons of construction steel, Shi Jianhua, the deputy head of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told China Auto News. He predicted Chinese automakers would consume 27.7 million tons of steel each year by 2010, consisting of 20.8 million tons of steel plates and 6.9 million tons of construction steel. In 2006, China produced 7.28 million motor vehicles, ranking third in the world, which required an estimated 11.82 million tons of rolled steel.

The Shanghai Gold Exchange plans to work with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to launch gold bullion trading for individuals across the country in July, the Shanghai Financial News reported. Individual investors will be required to trade from a minimum threshold of 100 grams, which is worth around US$2,100 (RMB16,000) based on Tuesday’s prices. ICBC’s Shanghai Branch launched an individual gold trading pilot program in July 2005, but lowered the threshold from 1,000 grams to 100 grams last December to appeal to more traders. By last Friday, the bank had had 3,301 gold-trading accounts with a cumulated turnover of 7,557.6 kilograms. Gold is a traditional symbol of  wealth in China, and the country is the third largest gold consumer in the world. The Shanghai Gold Exchange – the nation’s only bourse for precious metal, trading platinum, gold, and silver – traded 1,249 tons of gold in 2006, up nearly 37.8% from 2005.

Royal Dutch Shell plans to build a factory in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, to produce 200 million liters, or approximately 200,000 tons, of auto lubricant every year, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. Capacity will increase with respect increasing car sales in China, which climbed 21% in the first five months to 2.57 million units. The Zhuhai factory will be Shell’s fourth production base in China, joining a 200,000 ton annual capacity factory operating under its own name and two more under the Tongyi brand. Shell purchased 75% stake in Beijing Tongji Petroleum Chemical and Xianyang Tongyi Petroleum Chemical last September, adding 600,000 tons to its annual capacity. Shell surpassed Exxon Mobil as the world’s largest lubricant maker in 2006.