PetroChina, the country's largest oil producer, said it has agreed to buy assets from parent China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for 43.8 million yuan.

The oil major will buy the assets of Northeast China Inspection and Maintenance Operations from CNPC.

"The acquisition will enhance the ability to safely and smoothly operate inspection and maintenance services, and to consolidate the inspection and maintenance resources of the target entities," the company said in a statement.

"At present, the allocation of resources for inspection and maintenance services in Northeast China are not concentrated and business development is imbalanced," it said.

The Northeast China Inspection and Maintenance Operations mainly comprises the inspection and maintenance services related to the refining and chemical operations in the country's Northeast region. It has a total of six companies in the region.

In the year ended Dec 31, 2007, Northeast China Inspection and Maintenance Operations reported a net loss of 199.1 million yuan.

Analysts said the latest move is in line with the company's expansion in the production scale of its refining and chemical business and the increase in equipment used.

In the first quarter, PetroChina processed 217 million barrels of crude oil, an increase of 7.4 percent from a year earlier.

The company produced 216 million barrels of crude oil in the period, up 3.3 percent a year earlier. Its natural gas output was 484.7 billion cu ft, an increase of 18 percent.