An American oil company with ties to President Donald Trump has moved drilling equipment onto Greenland’s remote eastern coast as it prepares to explore for oil, despite not yet receiving authorization from Greenlandic authorities, The Guardian reported Sunday.
The move has triggered a strong warning from Greenland’s government as Trump continues to press his campaign to expand U.S. control over the Arctic territory.
Greenland’s mineral resources authority said equipment had been unloaded at Nunap Qeqqa in the Jameson Land region without prior approval.
“All future logistical matters must be advised and approved by the mineral resources authority – before they are carried out,” the government said in a statement.
The warning came after a tugboat and barge were spotted moving toward the sparsely populated area and unloading roughly a dozen containers.
The Danish investigative outlet Danwatch reported that the head of the shipping company confirmed the delivery was intended for Greenland Energy, a Texas-based company established last year.
Greenland Energy executives say as much as $1 trillion worth of crude oil could be located beneath Jameson Land. The company initially announced plans to spend some $60 million drilling two exploratory wells.
Greenland halted the issuance of new oil licenses in 2021 over environmental concerns. However, British company 80 Mile had previously secured exploration rights in Jameson Land.
Under an agreement disclosed in Greenland Energy’s corporate filings, the Texas company would acquire a majority stake in the project in exchange for financing the exploration. The company still requires approval from Greenlandic authorities before drilling can begin.
The controversy comes as Trump has repeatedly said that Greenland is strategically vital to U.S. national security and has threatened to acquire the territory.
Two days after Greenland issued its warning, Trump posted an image on Truth Social depicting himself looming over a Greenlandic village.
Greenland Energy Chair Larry Swets has sought to distance the oil project from Trump’s territorial ambitions, saying the exploration effort is “not related to American annexation.”
The company has nevertheless cultivated connections within Trump’s political orbit.
Greenland Energy hired Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, to produce a documentary series chronicling what the company described as the activities of “modern-day wildcatters.”
McGraw previously served on Trump’s religious freedom commission and is a prominent conservative media figure.
The company also appointed a U.S. Navy veteran involved with Trump’s Golden Dome missile-defense initiative to its board. Trump has cited control of Greenland as important to U.S. national security.
The company previously came under scrutiny after one of its representatives told a Jameson Land community meeting in June that the company had permission to bring drilling equipment ashore. That claim was later disputed.
Swets subsequently acknowledged that the company’s enthusiasm had contributed to confusion over the status of its approvals.
Greenland’s government said the equipment was brought ashore “in connection with planned oil exploration drilling.”
The government said it would not be proportionate to require the company to remove the equipment, while noting that its application for permission remained under consideration.
Greenland Energy did not respond to questions about the operation. In a letter to shareholders Thursday, however, the company said recent high-level meetings with Greenlandic regulators had been “constructive” and that it remained encouraged by progress toward obtaining the necessary approvals.
The company said it now intends to begin with one well rather than the two originally planned.
Greenland Energy has also indicated that a vessel carrying about 300 containers of drilling equipment is expected to leave Canada on Sept. 12, with drilling scheduled to begin in October if the necessary approvals are secured.
The project presents a difficult political and environmental choice for Greenland’s elected leaders, who control the territory’s natural resources under its autonomous government.
Jameson Land is subject to environmental protections, and concerns have been raised that the proposed drilling could fall within an area protected under the Ramsar Convention on wetlands.
Approving the project could open the door to oil exploration in an environmentally sensitive region. Rejecting it, meanwhile, could intensify tensions with Washington as Trump continues to argue that Greenland’s strategic and economic resources are essential to U.S. interests.