Iran’s North Oil Drilling Company signed a $143 million deal with a unit of China National Petroleum Corporation, according to reports.

Hedayatollah Khademi, Head of North Oil Drilling Company, told IRNA news that the rig will arrive within the next eight months for deployment in the Persian Gulf oil and gas fields. He added that his company is planning to order two more oil drilling rigs with the Chinese unit.

CNPC’s unit China Petroleum Technology & Development Corporation (CPTDC) was considering purchasing a Super M2 jack-up rig under construction at China’s Yantai Raffles Shipyard, a news paper said earlier.

Sources also said CPTDC has approached Asian shipyards to build two jack-up rigs for export to Iran, but did not give any further details on the rig, which was known to be 60% complete as of late February 2010.