As geothermal drilling advances, is magma drilling next?

By Linda Hsieh, Editor & Publisher

For the first time, IADC took one of its conference events to Iceland this year. The country, which sits on top of an active volcanic hotspot, is well known for its geothermal drilling – a fast-growing sector with significant growth potential. Geothermal energy already powers up to 70% of Iceland’s total primary energy use. And in its capital city of Reykjavik, geothermal actually accounts for 95% of power use, according to Iceland Drilling.

Like oil and gas drilling, geothermal drilling has seen significant advances in recent years. In a keynote at the 2025 IADC Advanced Rig Technology Conference in Reykjavik on 1 October, Iceland Drilling CEO Sveinn Hannesson cited things like more automated and higher-capacity rigs, more durable drill bits, more sophisticated directional drilling capabilities and better downhole measurements as the primary drivers for efficiency improvements. Not much different than oil and gas drilling – except they’re dealing with much higher downhole temperatures, typically in the range of 200-250°C.

While Iceland holds a distinct geological advantage when it comes to geothermal drilling, Mr Hannesson noted that his company is still looking to innovations being made with advanced or enhanced geothermal systems, as well as AI, to further improve its own operations. In fact, he noted Iceland Drilling’s ambitions to start magma drilling in the not-too-distant future. “This is the energy we are after,” he said. “The heat that we measured was 450°, but it’s going to be higher.”

Previous wells where Iceland Drilling has come into contact with magma showed there is great potential, with just one such superheated well potentially able to produce 40 megawatts of energy, and he challenged the industry to continue advancing its technologies so this energy resource can be fully harnessed. Click here to watch this video where DC visited one of Iceland Drilling’s rigs and spoke with Bruce Gatherer, Business Development and Drilling Advisor at Iceland Drilling – certainly a video with one of the coolest backgrounds DC has ever shot! DC

Linda Hsieh can be reached at linda.hsieh@iadc.org.