Move dovetails with possible plans to turn firm into strategic holding company

China National Petroleum Corp, the country's biggest oil and gas producer, may use a small-cap company called Daqing Huake Co as a vehicle to list its oilfield services unit and avoid an initial public offering, according to sources.

CNPC, which owns about 55 percent of Daqing Huake through two subsidiaries, is also considering using the Shenzhen-listed company for its equipment-making unit, said the people. There is no timeline for the possible listing, they said. Daqing Huake board secretary Meng Fanli and a Beijing-based spokesman at CNPC separately declined to comment.