Texas-based Greenland Energy, connected to President Donald Trump's circle, has shipped equipment to Greenland's east coast without the necessary permits from local authorities. The estimated value of oil beneath the Jameson Land region is one trillion dollars.
As US President Donald Trump again issues threats about taking over Greenland, an American oil company linked to his circle is intensively preparing exploratory drilling on the semi-autonomous Danish territory. Texas-based Greenland Energy has in recent days shipped drilling equipment to Greenland's east coast, despite not yet having received all necessary approvals from Greenlandic authorities.
The Government of Greenland has issued a "sharp warning" over the unloading of equipment without a prior permit. "All future logistical matters must be notified to the Mineral Resources Authority and must be approved before they are carried out," the government statement said. Local residents in the sparsely populated area noticed a tugboat that unloaded about ten containers on the shore at Nunap Cekat (Jameson Land).
Executives at Greenland Energy claim that beneath the Jameson Land region there may be crude oil with an estimated value of one trillion dollars. They have announced plans to spend $60 million on drilling two wells to investigate this. Although Greenland stopped issuing new oil licenses in 2021 for environmental reasons, British company 80 Mile secured exploration rights in Jameson Land, and Greenland Energy will take a majority stake in the project in exchange for funding the exploration.
Greenland Energy's chairman and major shareholder, Larry Swets, stated that the oil project is "not linked to American annexation." After a company representative falsely claimed at a local community meeting in June 2026 that they had a permit to unload equipment, Swets admitted: "Our enthusiasm for the project led us to communicate in a way that created confusion."
The company has hired Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, a prominent right-wing former talk show host who served on Trump's religious freedom commission, to film a documentary series that will "document the mission of these modern independent oil explorers." It has also appointed as a director a US Navy veteran who works on the "Golden Dome" project, a missile defense plan that Trump claims makes control over Greenland vital.
Jeff Landry, the far-right governor of Louisiana who serves as Trump's envoy for Greenland, has said that Greenland could be pumping oil as early as next year. According to sources, a ship carrying 300 containers of drilling equipment is expected to depart from Canada on September 12, 2026, with drilling of wells planned to begin in October.
As a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, decisions about Greenland's natural resources are made by locally elected leaders, who now face a delicate situation. They could grant a permit for oil drilling, even though the planned wells appear to fall within a protected area covered by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Or they could refuse and, as some fear, give Trump an excuse to continue imperialist plans.
In a statement, the Government of Greenland said it "would not be proportionate" to demand the removal of the equipment and that the permit application is still in process. Greenland Energy said in a letter to shareholders: "Recent high-level meetings between project management and Greenlandic regulatory and supervisory authorities have been constructive, and we continue to be encouraged by the progress being made toward the remaining approvals needed for drilling." After those talks, initially only one well will be drilled.
