Norway’s Statoil and three Icelandic energy companies are drilling down towards the volcanic island’s magma in a bid to make geothermal energy production more efficient.

The probe will be the world’s hottest geothermal well, bringing superheated steam of up to 500 degrees Celsius to the surface to run power turbines.

Statoil is providing its expertise within high-pressure, high-temperature drilling and believes the project could pave the way for a future line of business, if successful.