US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that “massive oil, gas and mineral exploration” was set to begin on Greenland, a contentious statement on a territory that has resisted his efforts to control it and has banned new drilling for crude.
The Greenlandic prime minister’s office declined to comment on Trump’s statement. The Danish foreign ministry and Greenland’s ministry of mineral resources did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The previous owner, ARCO, spent heavily on seismic work in the 1970s but never drilled.
The company said in August this year it had plans to drill for oil in 2027 at an untested basin on Greenland’s east coast, although it lacked its own permit to do so.
Trump described the Danish Arctic island which is run by a semi-autonomous government as “our new and beautiful Greenland” in a social media post that hailed what he said were US gains from a security deal signed in September. The government has said it is reviewing whether a Texas firm, Greenland Energy, can use permits predating that prohibition. Independent Danish security policy advisor Jacob Kaarsbo said Trump’s comments could be seen as a sign that his desire to control Greenland remained unchanged. “It is extremely dangerous to view this agreement between the Trump administration and Denmark as something that has altered Trump’s intentions,” he said.
