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Europe
Tensions in the Arctic: Greenland issues sharp rebuke to Trump-linked oil company
2026-08-14
[France24] A Texas oil company that wants to extract what could amount to billions of barrels of oil from East Greenland’s Arctic basin has crossed a red line before even starting to drill.

In a statement issued on July 30, Greenland’s mineral resources authority said it had become aware that Greenland Energy – a Texas oil company founded last year – had transferred drilling equipment ashore on a remote stretch of the island’s eastern coast.

“All future logistical matters must be advised and approved by the mineral resources authority – before they are carried out,” the government said.

Greenland Energy has claimed that $1 trillion in crude oil may lie beneath the Jameson Land region. The firm thus announced plans to spend $60 million drilling two exploratory wells to find out.

Greenland Energy’s chairman and a significant shareholder, Larry Swets, "appears to enjoy access to Trump’s circle", The Guardian reported. Swets has said the oil project is “not related to American annexation”. Carol Craig, a US navy veteran involved with Trump's Golden Dome missile-defence plan for Greenland, reportedly sits on the company's board.

“The exploration for oil by Greenland Energy is relatively unproblematic,” said Lukas Wahden, an associate fellow of the Russia programme at George Washington University, in an interview on FRANCE 24. “The issue that caused political controversy last week is that the US company Greenland Energy didn’t coordinate with the relevant Greenlandic authorities in its disembarking of equipment for the exploration that is planned in East Greenland.”

The move by the US firm “stepped on a number of toes” given the delicate political context, according to Wahden. Trump flummoxed his NATO allies in January when he announced he must “have” Greenland – even by force, if necessary.

Related:
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