Houston-based Northern Offshore has agreed to hire the semi-submersible drill rig GSF Arctic II out to Norway-based AGR Peak Well Management Ltd. for $155 million in North Sea work.

An earlier deal with rig giant Transocean Inc. means Northern will have bought and renamed the rig Energy Atalas by year-end, when the 365-day contract begins.

Northern chief exec Marion Woolie said the company was building a new presence in the North Sea, for which the contract with AGR was a “cornerstone” in a “core operating region”.

The AGR order is good news after a “botched” 145-day job in which a prospective hirer’s finances were understood to have been “weak”. The lost short order will produce rig down time, a statement said.

Tags: AGR Group, Northern Offshore Ltd.