Greenland oil drilling: Why Trump-linked US firm is facing a warning

What exactly is happening in Greenland?

According to a report in The Guardian, equipment for oil drilling was brought ashore on Greenland’s eastern coast in the past few days. This has forced Greenland’s government to issue a warning, saying no approval was given for this. The government said any future shipments and logistics work must first be cleared by its mineral resources authority.

Just two days after this warning, Trump posted a message on his social media platform Truth Social. The post showed an image of him towering over a small Greenlandic village, along with the words “hello Greenland”.

Which company is behind the drilling plan, and what does it want?

The company is called Greenland Energy, a Texas-based firm set up only last year. Its top executives claim that as much as $1 trillion worth of crude oil could be lying underground in a region called Jameson Land. The company has announced it wants to spend $60 million to drill two wells there to check if this oil actually exists.

Greenland had stopped giving out new oil licences back in 2021 because of environmental concerns. However, a British company named 80 Mile already held exploration rights in Jameson Land. Greenland Energy plans to take a majority share in the project by funding the exploration work, though it still needs the government’s final approval before drilling can begin.

Does this company have links to Trump?

Greenland Energy has hired Phil McGraw, the well-known former TV host known as Dr Phil, who once served on a Trump-appointed religious freedom panel. He is expected to make a documentary series about the drilling project. The company has also appointed a US navy veteran as a director, someone who is also working on Golden Dome, Trump’s missile defence project, for which he has called control of Greenland “vital”.

The company’s chairman, Larry Swets, is said to have close ties to people around Trump. Swets has denied any political motive behind the project, saying it has nothing to do with American plans to annex Greenland.

Did the company mislead people about having permission?

In June, a company representative told local residents at a community meeting in Jameson Land that the firm already had permission to bring in drilling equipment. This turned out to be false. Swets later admitted the mistake, saying: “Our enthusiasm for the project led us to communicate in a way that created confusion.”

Despite this, the following month, locals in the area spotted a tugboat pulling a barge to shore and unloading a dozen containers. The Danish investigative outlet Danwatch confirmed with the shipping company involved that the delivery was indeed meant for Greenland Energy.

In a letter sent to its shareholders, the company said “recent high-level meetings” with Greenland’s regulators had been “constructive” and that it remained hopeful about getting the remaining approvals needed. It also said that, following these talks, it now plans to drill only one well to start with, instead of two.

Why is this such a sensitive issue?

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory that belongs to Denmark, but decisions about its natural resources are made by its own elected local government. This puts Greenland’s leaders in a tricky spot. If they approve the drilling, it could go against environmental protections, since the wells are reportedly planned inside an area protected under an international wetlands treaty called the Ramsar convention. But if they refuse, some fear it could give Trump an excuse to push harder for control over Greenland.

For now, Greenland’s government has said it “would not be proportionate” to demand that the equipment already onshore be removed, adding that the company’s application for permission is still being reviewed.

A representative for Greenland Energy has said a ship carrying 300 containers of drilling equipment will leave Canada on 12 September, with drilling expected to start in October. Meanwhile, Jeff Landry, the Louisiana governor who Trump has appointed as his special envoy for Greenland, has said Greenland could be “pumping oil next year.”