Full-Time
Updated on 9/3/2026
Deep geothermal energy via millimeter-wave drilling
$36 - $42/hr
Houston, TX, USA
In Person
Occasional field visits and light travel to job sites are required.
Associate's
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Quaise Energy develops deep geothermal energy using a millimeter-wave drilling system to reach temperatures above 400°C at depths up to 20 kilometers. The goal is to retrofit existing coal and gas power plants to tap a stable, weather-independent clean energy source, avoiding hydraulic fracturing. The company leverages gyrotron-based drilling technology adapted from fusion research and has demonstrated field tests to show progress toward scalable deep geothermal deployment.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series B
Total Funding
$273M
Headquarters
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Founded
2018
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Nabors invests $35 million in Quaise Energy as deep geothermal drilling moves toward commercial deployment. Nabors Industries has completed a $35 million strategic equity investment in Quaise Energy, taking a 14% ownership stake and becoming the geothermal technology company's largest shareholder. Nabors funded the transaction through the issuance of approximately 392,000 common shares, expanding its exposure to geothermal while leveraging capabilities developed through its conventional oil and gas drilling business. Quaise is developing a hybrid drilling system that combines conventional rotary drilling with high-power millimeter-wave technology designed to penetrate deeper, hotter rock beyond the practical limits of traditional drilling methods. The objective is to access superhot geothermal resources, potentially allowing geothermal development in areas that are not dependent on naturally occurring shallow hydrothermal systems. The relationship has already moved into field execution. A Nabors PACE-B drilling rig is operating at Quaise's Project Obsidian in Oregon, which is being developed as a potential first commercial deployment of a superhot enhanced geothermal system (EGS). Nabors' participation gives it direct exposure to the drilling requirements and operational challenges associated with bringing the technology into the field. Strategically, the investment could open another market for Nabors' rigs, drilling services, engineering and automation technologies if Quaise successfully moves from demonstration to commercial deployment. For suppliers, the project is also worth monitoring for requirements involving high-temperature drilling equipment, tubulars, cementing, well control, instrumentation and other technologies already supported by the oilfield service (OFS) supply chain. Industry impact. The investment illustrates how oil and gas drilling expertise can be redeployed into emerging energy markets without abandoning the industry's core capabilities. The United States' position as a "safe barrel" - a politically stable, technologically advanced and infrastructure-rich source of energy - extends beyond oil and natural gas: the same drilling expertise, equipment, workforce and supply chain supporting domestic hydrocarbon production can potentially support geothermal development. That gives North American drilling and service companies another avenue to commercialize existing capabilities while maintaining their core oil and gas businesses. Sales strategy. OFS suppliers should treat Project Obsidian as an early-stage account-development opportunity and track the project as it progresses toward commercial deployment. Prioritize companies providing high-temperature equipment, tubulars, cementing, drilling fluids, well control, instrumentation, automation and specialized drilling engineering, while also watching for additional Quaise projects that could signal movement toward repeatable commercial development. Two-Sentence summary. Nabors Industries has invested $35 million for a 14% stake in Quaise Energy as the companies advance deep geothermal drilling technology at Project Obsidian in Oregon. The investment could create a new market for conventional drilling rigs, engineering, automation and OFS capabilities if superhot geothermal development progresses toward commercial scale.
Quaise Energy closes $180 million Series B to build world's first Superhot Geothermal power plant. Key Points * Quaise Energy closed a $180 million Series B to advance superhot geothermal drilling and build its first commercial power plant. * The round brings Quaise's funding to $280 million, backing millimeter wave drilling technology able to reach depths beyond 5 kilometers. * Nabors Industries, Prelude Ventures, JERA Co., and Idemitsu Kosan backed the round, and Nabors signed a drilling partnership with Quaise. August 27, 2026 Credits: Quaise Energy Quaise Energy drills toward the hottest rock on Earth, aiming to turn heat from deep underground into steady, round-the-clock power. The company was co-founded by Carlos Araque, its CEO and President, along with Matthew Houde, and its drilling technology grows out of more than a decade of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The idea is simple to state, even if the engineering is not: drill deep enough into hot rock, almost anywhere on the planet, and geothermal energy stops being limited to a few lucky regions. The timing is not an accident. Demand for electricity that runs day and night without burning fuel is climbing fast, driven largely by data centers. Worldwide data center power demand is projected to climb 27% in 2026 alone, reaching 132 gigawatts, according to Gartner, as AI workloads push computing facilities to draw more electricity from the grid. That growth has pushed utilities and tech companies to look past wind and solar for sources of power that never stop. Superhot geothermal, once a niche idea, is getting a second look as one possible answer. Quaise has now closed its Series B funding round, raising $180 million in total equity financing. The round included a $35 million investment from Nabors Industries, one of the world's largest land drilling contractors and a longtime partner of Quaise. With this round, Quaise's total funding reaches $280 million. Why Investors Are Betting on Superhot Geothermal Geothermal energy has traditionally worked only in a handful of places, where hot rock happens to sit close enough to the surface for conventional drilling to reach it. Superhot geothermal tries to get around that limit by drilling much deeper, into rock hot enough to generate power on a scale closer to fossil fuel or nuclear plants, in more places around the world. Global investment in geothermal energy could climb to nearly $9 billion by 2030, according to research firm Rystad Energy. That trend reflects growing confidence, across the industry, that the technology is nearing commercial reality. The funding round came with more than money. Nabors also signed a strategic framework agreement with Quaise covering drilling operations, technology integration, and commercial development. Under the agreement, Quaise gets access to a dedicated land rig and to Nabors' platform for reservoir modeling, well design, and drilling strategy. Quaise expects the shared data and field experience to help it drill better, spend less, and move faster. "Superhot geothermal has the potential to make clean energy ubiquitous. That is why we are excited about our close relationship with Quaise," said Anthony G. Petrello, Chairman, President and CEO, Nabors Industries. "Quaise's millimeter wave technology changes the equation entirely by reaching superhot rock at temperatures and depths that are inaccessible with conventional drilling, transforming geothermal from a location-dependent resource into a global energy solution. Combined with Nabors' drilling expertise and infrastructure, we see a path to gigawatt-scale geothermal power that no other company can offer today." How Quaise Plans to Spend the New Funding The money from this round will go toward Project Obsidian, which Quaise describes as its first commercial superhot geothermal power plant. Some of the capital will also fund efforts to push the company's millimeter wave drilling system past depths of 5 kilometers. That depth matters because it is roughly where rock gets hot enough to generate power at a meaningful scale. The Nabors partnership is meant to support that goal directly, rather than sit alongside it. Instead of building out its own drilling capacity from scratch, Quaise plans to rely on Nabors' rigs and technical systems to move from testing into full commercial operation more quickly. Each side brings something different to the table. Nabors supplies the rigs, crews, and decades of drilling experience. Quaise supplies the millimeter wave technology needed to reach rock hot enough to make the whole thing work. "We are unlocking the most powerful clean energy source on Earth, and the Series B signals deep conviction across a wide range of investors," said Carlos Araque, CEO and President, Quaise Energy. "Nabors is an invaluable partner as we move millimeter wave drilling to full commercial operations at Project Obsidian and beyond." What Makes Quaise's Drilling Technology Different At the center of Quaise's approach is a drilling method that uses millimeter waves, instead of a mechanical drill bit, to vaporize rock. It sounds unusual, but the physics traces back to research led by Paul Woskov at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center, aimed at reaching depths and temperatures that standard drilling tools simply cannot handle. Getting to that superhot rock is what would let Quaise's plants generate electricity on a scale similar to fossil fuel or nuclear facilities, without burning any fuel at all. The company came together through Aaron Mandell, who connected Woskov with Carlos Araque, a former Schlumberger engineer who spent fifteen years working in the oil and gas drilling industry. Matthew Houde, the company's Chief of Staff, is also a co-founder. Before Quaise, he managed a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's ARPA-E program, which supported early work on the millimeter wave technology. Quaise describes itself as both a technology developer and a project operator. In practice, that means the plan is not just to license the drilling system to others, but to build and run geothermal power plants directly. Project Obsidian, the company's first commercial plant, is meant to show that superhot geothermal can deliver reliable, always-on power that can compete with existing energy sources. The Investors Behind Quaise's $280 Million in Funding Quaise's Series B round closed in two parts. The first close, announced in July 2026, was led by Prelude Ventures, with strategic investments from JERA Co., Inc. and Idemitsu Kosan, two of Japan's largest energy companies. The final close added Nabors Industries' $35 million investment, bringing the round's total to $180 million and the company's overall funding to $280 million. BofA Securities and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC advised on the deal. Further back, Quaise's early backers include Vinod Khosla and The Engine, the MIT-affiliated venture fund that led its seed round. The company also lists the Collaborative Fund, Safar Partners, and CPI Investments among its supporters, along with research partners such as MIT, the University of Cambridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and ARPA-E. Funding details. * Company name: Quaise Energy * Funding round: Series B (final close) * Date: Final close announced August 27, 2026 (first close announced July 2026) * Funding amount: $180 million (brings total funding to date to $280 million) * Lead investors: Prelude Ventures led the first close, with strategic investments from JERA Co., Inc. and Idemitsu Kosan; Nabors Industries invested $35 million in the final close
Nabors expands geothermal growth platform with $35 million strategic investment in Quaise Energy. Aug 27, 2026, 07:00 ET Investment increases Nabors' ownership to extend its technology-enabled growth strategy and positions the Company to support the commercialization of next-generation superhot geothermal drilling HAMILTON, Bermuda, Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Nabors Industries Ltd. ("Nabors" or the "Company") (NYSE: NBR) today announced the completion of a $35 million strategic equity investment in Quaise Energy, Inc. ("Quaise"). The transaction positions Nabors as Quaise's largest shareholder with a fully diluted ownership of 14%. The investment deepens the longstanding relationship between Nabors and Quaise, and gives Nabors meaningful potential value creation from Quaise's millimeter-wave drilling platform as it advances toward commercial deployment. The funding is part of Quaise's Series B financing round and underscores Nabors' continued support for Quaise's technology development and expansion efforts. The transaction advances Nabors' strategy to deploy its differentiated drilling, automation, and well-construction capabilities into attractive adjacent energy markets. Quaise's hybrid platform combines conventional rotary drilling with high-power millimeter-wave technology designed to reach deeper, hotter geothermal resources that are otherwise inaccessible with conventional methods. Upon successful deployment, the technology broadens the addressable market for geothermal power and creates future opportunities for Nabors' rigs, drilling services, engineering, and automation solutions. "This investment brings together strategic commitment and one of the most compelling opportunities in geothermal energy," said Anthony G. Petrello, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nabors. "Quaise's technology closely aligns with our core strengths. By pairing its innovation with Nabors' global platform, technical expertise, and field execution capabilities, we believe we can help accelerate industry adoption while creating an attractive pathway for long-term value creation." Nabors funded the investment through the issuance of approximately 392,000 shares of Nabors common stock. Carlos Araque, Chief Executive Officer and President of Quaise Energy, said, "Nabors combines world-class drilling, advanced technology, field execution, and a global operating footprint. Its increased investment is a strong endorsement of our technology and growth strategy. We could not be more excited to move forward together as we advance our technology and bring the world's first superhot geothermal power plant to life - a meaningful next step toward deploying geothermal at commercial scale." Quaise's gyrotron-powered drilling platform is designed to ablate rock using millimeter-wave energy transmitted downhole through a waveguide, reducing reliance on complex downhole equipment in extreme-temperature environments. By integrating this technology with established drilling practices, infrastructure and supply chains, Quaise is pursuing a scalable pathway to access deeper and hotter geothermal resources. A Nabors PACE(R)-B rig is currently drilling at Quaise's Project Obsidian in Oregon, providing Nabors with a direct role in the project's field execution. The planned first phase targets 50 megawatts of reliable power, with subsequent phases targeting up to one gigawatt of additional capacity. Project Obsidian is intended to become the first commercial deployment of a superhot enhanced geothermal system. Nabors' investment in Quaise establishes a strategic framework including an exclusivity arrangement to provide drilling services in support of Quaise's geothermal projects. Following this investment, the companies expect to continue evaluating additional opportunities, including drilling-system integration, rig engineering, field deployment, automation and global project development. These opportunities could extend Nabors' participation beyond its current ownership and support potential future revenue as Quaise progresses toward broader market adoption. About Nabors Industries Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR) is a leading provider of advanced technology for the energy industry. With operations in approximately 20 countries, Nabors has established a global network of people, technology and equipment to deploy solutions that deliver safe, efficient and responsible energy production. By leveraging its core competencies, particularly in drilling, engineering, automation, data science and manufacturing, Nabors aims to innovate the future of energy and enable the transition to a lower-carbon world. Learn more about Nabors and its energy technology leadership: www.nabors.com. About Quaise Energy Quaise Energy is unlocking the Earth's deep heat to deliver clean, reliable, baseload energy at scale - almost anywhere in the world. As both a technology innovator and project developer, Quaise builds and operates solutions that harness superhot geothermal energy far below the surface, enabling power generation that can rival the output of today's most efficient fossil fuel and nuclear plants. With its millimeter wave drilling technology, developed after more than a decade of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Quaise's mission is to make superhot geothermal a backbone of the modern energy system, offering affordable, zero-carbon power and true energy independence for communities and nations everywhere. https://www.quaise.com/ Forward-Looking Statements The information included in this press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, as disclosed by Nabors from time to time in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of these factors, Nabors' actual results may differ materially from those indicated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect management's estimates and beliefs as of the date of this press release. Nabors does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements. Nabors Investor Contacts: William C. Conroy, CFA, Vice President of Corporate Development & Investor Relations, via email [email protected] or Kara Peak, Director of Corporate Development & Investor Relations, via email [email protected]. To request investor materials, contact Nabors' corporate headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda via email [email protected] Quaise Media Contact: Diane Hughes Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Quaise Energy [email protected] SOURCE Nabors Industries Ltd.
Nabors Industries has completed a $35 million strategic equity investment in Quaise Energy, becoming the company's largest shareholder with 14% fully diluted ownership. The investment is part of Quaise's Series B financing round and deepens the partnership between the two companies. Quaise is developing a hybrid drilling platform that combines conventional rotary drilling with high-power millimetre-wave technology to access deeper, hotter geothermal resources. The technology uses gyrotron-powered millimetre-wave energy to ablate rock, enabling access to superhot geothermal systems previously unreachable with traditional methods. Nabors funded the investment by issuing approximately 392,000 shares of its common stock. A Nabors rig is currently operating at Quaise's Project Obsidian in Oregon, which aims to become the first commercial deployment of a superhot enhanced geothermal system, targeting 50 megawatts initially with plans for up to one gigawatt additional capacity.
Geothermal energy technology company Quaise Energy announced that it has raised $134 million at the first close of a Series B funding round, with proceeds aimed at supporting the development of the world’s first commercial superhot geothermal power plant. Founded in 2018 as a spinout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge-based Quaise develops solutions […]