Greenland's mineral resources authority has issued a formal warning to a Texas-based oil company with reported ties to Donald Trump's inner circle, after it moved drilling equipment ashore on a remote stretch of the island's east coast without official approval. The rebuke, issued on 30 July, states that all future logistical activity must be coordinated and approved by the authority before it is carried out — a direct response to what officials described as an unauthorised operation by Greenland Energy, a company founded only last year.
Greenland Energy has set its sights on the Jameson Land region, a sparsely populated area in East Greenland, where it claims up to $1 trillion worth of crude oil may lie beneath the surface. The company announced plans to spend $60 million drilling two exploratory wells to test that hypothesis. According to investigative reporting, the company recently landed around 15 containers of equipment on the Greenlandic coast, and it intends to follow up with a much larger shipment — some 300 containers and a drilling rig — as early as next month. Greenland's authorities have indicated that if the vessel arrives without the necessary permits, the matter will be referred to police.
The company's connections to Washington have amplified local and international concern. Its chairman and major shareholder, Larry Swets, reportedly has access to Trump's circle, while a former US Navy officer involved in the so-called Golden Dome missile-defence project — a US air-defence scheme for Greenland — sits on the company's board. Television personality Phil McGraw, known as Dr Phil, who until recently served on a Trump-appointed religious freedom commission, has been hired to produce a documentary series promoting the project. Greenland Energy itself insists its activities are not connected to Trump's stated ambitions to bring Greenland under US control.
Those ambitions have cast a long shadow over the episode. Trump alarmed NATO allies in January when he declared he must "have" Greenland — by force if necessary — triggering what analysts described as the worst transatlantic crisis in decades. A US-Denmark-Greenland working group was subsequently established to manage the relationship going forward. Against that backdrop, analysts warn that the unauthorised equipment movement by a company with White House adjacency is deeply sensitive. If Greenland refuses to grant drilling permission and Trump sides with the company, it risks derailing fragile diplomatic progress. One expert described the situation as a potential stand-off, raising questions about whether Trump might use political or other pressure to allow the company to proceed.
The stakes are also local. Greenland has issued no new oil exploration licences since 2021, primarily due to environmental concerns. The Jameson Land licence was granted years ago to a British firm, which Greenland Energy has since joined without notifying authorities. Many residents of the area oppose any drilling, citing the risk of oil spills to an ecologically fragile community. No commercially viable oil reserve has ever been found in Greenland despite previous exploration efforts. For now, the standoff remains between a company pressing ahead and a government insisting it has not given permission to proceed.