Quaise Closes $180 Million Series B as Nabors Invests $35 Million and Drills at Project Obsidian

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A Nabors PACE-B rig is drilling at the Central Oregon geothermal development, where Quaise targets a 50-MW first phase by 2030 and a later expansion to 250 MW.

Published by Allstream Insiders

Allstream Insiders Summary

Quaise Energy has closed a $180 million Series B financing that includes a $35 million strategic investment from Nabors Industries, while a Nabors PACE-B land rig is drilling at Quaise’s Project Obsidian in Central Oregon. The companies also established a strategic framework covering drilling operations, technology integration and commercial development.

The Nabors investment is included within the $180 million Series B total; it is not an additional amount on top of the round. Quaise previously announced a $134 million first close in July 2026, making the final round $46 million larger than the amount reported at that stage. Quaise says it has now raised $280 million in total funding to date.

Series B proceeds are intended to support Project Obsidian and continued commercialization of Quaise’s millimeter-wave drilling system toward depths greater than 5 kilometers. Quaise has not identified how much of the $180 million is allocated specifically to Project Obsidian, and the financing total should not be treated as the geothermal plant’s disclosed construction cost.

Project Obsidian is under development on federal geothermal leases in the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon. Quaise currently targets 50 MW for the first phase and commercial operation by 2030. Its dedicated project materials describe a second phase adding 200 MW, which would bring the planned plant to 250 MW.

Nabors’ role extends beyond its equity investment. The strategic framework includes an exclusive arrangement for Nabors to provide drilling services for Quaise geothermal projects, access to a dedicated land rig and use of Nabors’ platform for reservoir modeling, well design and drilling strategy.

Quaise-Nabors and Project Obsidian Tracker

What Did Quaise Energy and Nabors Announce?

The companies announced both a completed strategic investment and an operating framework that gives Nabors a defined role in Quaise’s geothermal drilling program. Nabors supplied $35 million of the final $180 million Series B and confirmed that one of its PACE-B rigs is already working at Project Obsidian.

The strategic framework covers:

• A dedicated Nabors land rig
• An exclusive arrangement for Nabors drilling services supporting Quaise geothermal projects
• Integration of reservoir modeling, well design and drilling strategy
• Evaluation of drilling-system integration, rig engineering, field deployment and automation
• Potential collaboration on future geothermal project development

Only the current rig deployment and the drilling-services framework should be treated as confirmed work. The additional activities that the companies expect to evaluate are not the same as completed contracts, construction awards or approved future projects.

How Does the $180 Million Financing Relate to Project Obsidian?

Quaise says the Series B will fund both Project Obsidian and continued development of its millimeter-wave drilling system, but it does not provide a project-specific allocation. The $180 million therefore cannot be presented as Project Obsidian’s total capital cost.

Quaise’s July announcement described the initial $134 million close as the equity component of a broader capital program and said project-level equity and debt financing were also being raised. The August final-close announcement does not provide a total construction budget for Project Obsidian or state that all project-level financing has been completed.

The financing figures should be read as follows:

• $180 million: Total final Series B equity financing
• $35 million: Nabors’ portion of the $180 million
• $134 million: Amount announced at the July first close
• $46 million: Increase from the first-close amount to the final Series B total
• $280 million: Quaise’s reported cumulative funding to date

These are company-financing amounts. They do not establish the cost of wells, the surface power plant, grid interconnection or later expansion phases.

What Is the Confirmed Project Obsidian Scope?

Project Obsidian is a phased superhot enhanced-geothermal development in Central Oregon with a 50-MW first phase and a company target for commercial operation by 2030. Quaise’s dedicated project site says a second phase would add 200 MW, bringing the planned plant to 250 MW.

Quaise’s April technical overview describes the first phase as two separate geothermal well systems occupying an approximately 20-acre surface footprint. Each system is designed around three wells: one injection well and two production wells. A seventh confirmation well is intended to collect subsurface information used to refine the development.

The two systems are designed for different temperature ranges:

• One system targets an average rock temperature of approximately 315 degrees Celsius, with temperatures reaching as high as 365 degrees Celsius.
• The second system targets an average of approximately 365 degrees Celsius, with temperatures reaching as high as 415 degrees Celsius.

Quaise describes Project Obsidian as a location where superhot conditions could be reached at roughly 5 kilometers, or about three miles, below the surface. Those temperatures, depths and generating capacities remain project design targets and company expectations, not completed operating results.

Is the Nabors Rig Currently Using Millimeter-Wave Drilling?

Nabors confirms that a PACE-B rig is drilling at Project Obsidian, but the companies do not say that the current well is being drilled with millimeter-wave energy. Quaise’s April project description said its first wells would use conventional drilling and that millimeter-wave technology was not expected before the hotter well system targeting an average of 365 degrees Celsius.

Quaise’s planned hybrid process uses conventional rotary drilling through the shallower formations before switching to high-power millimeter waves in deeper basement rock. The millimeter waves are generated at the surface by a gyrotron and transmitted downhole through a waveguide to ablate rock without relying on a conventional drill bit at depth.

The August announcement says Series B funding will continue advancing that system toward depths greater than 5 kilometers. It does not report that the technology has already reached that depth at Project Obsidian.

Is Project Obsidian a 250-MW or 1-GW Development?

The currently described Project Obsidian plant is a phased 250-MW development: 50 MW initially, followed by a 200-MW addition. Quaise separately presents a potential third stage of more than 1 GW, while Nabors refers to subsequent phases targeting up to one gigawatt of additional capacity.

Because those descriptions use different baselines, Allstream treats 250 MW as the defined Phase I and Phase II plant scope and 1 GW-plus as a longer-range scale target. The 1-GW figure should not be presented as capacity currently under construction or as part of the 2030 first-phase target.

What Could Project Obsidian Mean for the Industrial Supply Chain?

Project Obsidian combines confirmed drilling activity with a future surface-generation program, creating a potential bridge between oilfield services and power-plant construction. Nabors’ rig deployment and drilling-services role are confirmed. Other work categories remain conditional unless Quaise announces procurement packages or contractor awards.

Based solely on the project’s published design, future execution could involve:

• Land-rig operations, directional drilling, casing, cementing and well-control services
• High-temperature wellheads, tubulars, seals, valves and completion equipment
• Reservoir characterization, stimulation design and microseismic monitoring
• Gyrotron systems, waveguides, purge-gas equipment and drilling automation
• Production piping, separators, heat exchangers and high-temperature fluid handling
• Turbine-generator equipment, cooling systems and balance-of-plant construction
• Electrical systems, substations, grid interconnection and plant controls
• Water management, environmental monitoring and site restoration

Quaise has not announced an engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the power plant in the cited sources. These categories are conditional Allstream analysis, not confirmed solicitations or guarantees of outside work.

Allstream Perspective

The most significant change since Quaise’s $134 million first close is the addition of Nabors as both a larger capital partner and an active drilling-services participant at Project Obsidian. The current rig deployment moves the story beyond a financing announcement, but it does not establish that millimeter-wave drilling has begun or that the full 50-MW plant has reached a final construction stage.

For oilfield contractors and equipment providers, Project Obsidian is notable because its development plan deliberately combines established drilling practices with new high-temperature and millimeter-wave systems. For power-sector suppliers, the larger opportunity depends on Quaise progressing from subsurface confirmation and well development into the surface power plant and grid-interconnection scope.

The next material milestones will be results from the Oregon drilling program, confirmation that millimeter-wave drilling has entered the Project Obsidian well sequence, additional project-level financing, named surface-plant contractors and a more detailed path to the company’s 2030 commercial-operation target.