Greenland warns Trump-linked oil firm after it lands drilling gear without permits

Greenland's warning

Greenland's autonomous government issued a "strong warning" in late July 2026 after a Texas-based oil company, Greenland Energy, brought drilling equipment ashore on the island's eastern coast without the required permits. On 30 July, Greenland's Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources disclosed that the British company White Flame Energy, part of the UK-based 80 Mile group, had moved containers of drilling equipment from Tasiilaq to Nerlerit Inaat, a local airport on the Jameson Land peninsula. The government stated that no approval had been granted for the landing of equipment and that "all future logistical matters must be advised and approved by the mineral resources authority before they are carried out."

The airport at Nerlerit Inaat was built in the 1980s by the American oil company ARCO to facilitate extraction from Jameson Land, though no drilling was ever carried out. 80 Mile holds the exploration concession rights for the area. Greenland Energy, founded in 2025, intends to acquire a majority stake in the project in exchange for funding the exploration, but still needs government permission to proceed.

The drilling plan

Greenland Energy executives claim that crude oil worth $1 trillion may lie beneath the Jameson Land region. The company announced plans to invest $60 million to drill two exploratory wells. A company representative confirmed to The Guardian that a ship carrying 300 containers of drilling equipment is scheduled to depart from Canada on 12 September, with preparatory work on site planned to begin in early October. Jeff Landry, the governor of Louisiana and Trump's designated envoy for Greenland, said that oil could be pumped from Greenland's soil as early as next year.

Greenland stopped issuing new oil licences in 2021 for environmental reasons. Jameson Land contains sensitive and protected habitats, and a potential oil spill in Arctic waters could violate the Ramsar Convention on wetlands.

Trump connections

Greenland Energy has retained Phil McGraw, known as Dr. Phil, a former talk-show host who served on Trump's religious freedom commission, to produce a documentary series about the project. The company also appointed a US Navy veteran working on the Golden Dome missile defence plan as a director. Trump has said that controlling Greenland is "vital" for the Golden Dome system.

Larry Swets, Greenland Energy's chair and a major shareholder, appears to have access to Trump's circle. He stated that the oil project is "not related to American annexation."

After a company representative falsely claimed at a community meeting in Jameson Land in June that the company had permission to land drilling equipment, Swets acknowledged the error.

Our enthusiasm for the project led us to communicate in a way that created confusion.

The following month, residents of the sparsely populated region observed a tug pulling a barge shoreward and unloading a dozen containers.

Trump's posture

Two days after Greenland's warning, Trump posted on Truth Social an image of himself looming over a Greenlandic village, accompanied by the message "Hello Greenland." Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to bring Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Danish kingdom with strategic and mineral wealth, under American control.