A fan watches game seven of the eastern conference semifinals May 12, 2010 2010 Getty Images

Michael Babad

Globe and Mail Update Published on Thursday, May. 13, 2010 10:08AM EDT Last updated on Thursday, May. 13, 2010 10:12AM EDT

Get the top business stories throughout the day on your BlackBerry or iPhone by bookmarking our mobile-friendly webpage.

Stories Report on Business is following today:

China moves deeper into oil sands

China Investment Corp. and Penn West Energy Trust are launching a joint venture to develop Penn West properties in Alberta’s oil sands. Under the deal announced this morning, a CIC subsidiary will invest a total of $817-million over time for 45 per cent of the joint venture. CIC will also pay $435-million for a 5-per-cent stake in Penn West.

“The assets include approximately 237,000 net acres of oil sands leases that Penn West believes contain significant bitumen resources, and current production of approximately 2,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day of bitumen and associated gas,” the companies said.

The deal follows Sinopec’s recent acquisition of a 9-per-cent stake in the Syncrude operation. It is already a 50-per-cent partner in the Northern Lights project.