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.
"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®-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.
