\n<\/p>\n
O<\/span>n 10 June, a snowy-haired American in his 60s addressed the residents of a remote Greenland hamlet. He was there to tell them about a business venture supported by figures linked to Donald Trump. \u201cSo,\u201d Robert Price said via an interpreter, \u201cwe have a project to drill for oil here.\u201d<\/p>\n The Texas oil company that Price represents, Greenland Energy, hopes to prove that billions of barrels of crude lie underground by bringing in 300 shipping containers of drilling kit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the permit to put the equipment on the land,\u201d footage of the gathering in Ittoqqortoormiit shows Price saying. \u201cAnd then we\u2019ve filed our permits \u2013 pending approval \u2013 to drill.\u201d<\/p>\n But Greenland\u2019s resources ministry said that contrary to Price\u2019s claim, there were \u201cno actually active permissions for any exploration activity or permissions for preparations for these activities\u201d.<\/p>\n The dispute threatens a showdown between the Trump-linked backers of Greenland Energy and the authorities in the vast, sparsely populated territory. Trump\u2019s lieutenants are using the prospect of an American oil find in Greenland to bolster their case for an American takeover.<\/p>\n <\/span>Jeff Landry, right, on a visit to Nuuk in May as Trump\u2019s special envoy to Greenland. Landry said the territory \u2018could be exporting 2m barrels of oil a day\u2019.<\/span> Photograph: Christian Klindt Soelbeck\/Ritzau Scanpix\/AFP\/Getty<\/p>\n The US president\u2019s special envoy to Greenland, the hard-right Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, returned from a visit in May to declare on Fox News: \u201cWe need a deal. Greenland needs a deal. We could be \u2013 Greenland could be \u2013 exporting 2m barrels of oil a day right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Landry, who says his task is to \u201cmake Greenland a part of the US\u201d, added: \u201cWe could have those barrels on production within 10 months or so.\u201d<\/p>\n Greenland Energy appears to be the only company making plans to drill in the territory. Despite seemingly not yet having permission, it has chartered an Arctic-going vessel to ferry its equipment 4,000km through icy waters to Greenland\u2019s eastern coast.<\/p>\n Price, an energy industry veteran who has become the public face of the company, said the vessel would depart in two months, on 12 September, with drilling to begin in October. Halliburton, the giant Houston-based contractor once led by the former Republican vice-president Dick Cheney, will run the logistics.<\/p>\n Ever since Trump made his imperial desires for Greenland explicit, US business interests have been gaining footholds in its vast expanses. The ventures range from rare-earth minerals and hydroelectric power to bottling \u201cluxury\u201d spring water.<\/p>\n Greenlanders have watched nervously as Trump has exercised US military power and toyed with doing so in the Danish territory. The day after he sent special forces to snatch the leader of Venezuela, Trump said: \u201cWe do need Greenland, absolutely.\u201d Trump cited oil as the reason the US needed to stamp its authority on Venezuela. The US has since extracted oil revenues of about $8bn with scant oversight.<\/p>\n Arriving at this week\u2019s Nato summit in Turkey, Trump renewed his call for the US to wrest control of Greenland from Denmark.<\/p>\n Among those alarmed is Avaaraq Olsen, the mayor of the region that covers the capital, Nuuk, and extends east across Jameson Land, where the oil drilling is planned. She said she was \u201cso afraid\u201d that Americans striking oil could align with Trump\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are like the most peaceful place on Earth,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we have always lived in peace and harmony. And suddenly there is all these Americans trying to take over.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>The coast of Jameson Land in north-east Greenland. Greenland Energy has chartered an Arctic-going vessel to ferry its equipment 4,000km through icy waters to Greenland\u2019s eastern coast.<\/span> Photograph: Biosphoto\/Alamy<\/p>\n Greenland stopped issuing licences to explore for oil in 2021 after 50 years of fruitless drilling. \u201cThe environmental consequences of oil exploration and extraction are too great,\u201d a minister said at the time.<\/p>\n But a handful of licences remained valid. They included some covering a chunk of Jameson Land, a region closer to London than to Washington. These licences belong to a company registered in the UK called 80 Mile.<\/p>\n It is those licences that Greenland Energy, formed last year and listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York, is hoping to exploit by putting up $60m to drill two wells in exchange for a majority stake in the project.<\/p>\n Price has claimed that crude worth $1tn (\u00a3750bn) could lie beneath Jameson Land. \u201cI believe it\u2019s there,\u201d he said during the meeting in Ittoqqortoormiit, a settlement of 300 people in Jameson Land. \u201cThe scientists believe that it\u2019s there. But until we drill these wells, we don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>The wells are expected to be drilled in an area protected by the global Ramsar Convention to preserve wetlands, which hosts important populations of wildlife including muskoxen.<\/span> Photograph: Biosphoto\/Alamy<\/p>\n The wells are expected to be drilled in an area protected by the global Ramsar Convention to preserve wetlands. David Boertmann, an expert on Greenland\u2019s birds, said the conservation zone hosts important numbers of barnacle geese and pink-footed geese as well as whimbrel, golden plover, Sabine\u2019s gull and snowy owl, plus muskoxen. Oil exploration activities could threaten the birds\u2019 habitat, Boertmann said.<\/p>\n Greenland Energy\u2019s stock market filings make clear that its plans can go ahead only if Greenland\u2019s government grants permission for drilling and for it to take a stake in any oil extraction that follows.<\/p>\n <\/span>M\u00fate B Egede, Greenland\u2019s minister for mineral resources, said Greenland Energy\u2019s \u2018statements to the public do not always reflect the actual situation\u2019. <\/span> Photograph: Mads Claus Rasmussen\/EPA<\/p>\n There are signs that the government may be reluctant to do so. Days after Price\u2019s comments, Greenland\u2019s minister for mineral resources, M\u00fate B Egede, said he could \u201cunderstand if citizens are concerned\u201d about the project\u2019s connections to Trump.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cActivities cannot be carried out until the necessary permits have been granted. I must say again that the company\u2019s statements to the public do not always reflect the actual situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Greenland Energy declined to respond to questions from the Guardian. But Larry Swets, a financier who is one of Greenland Energy\u2019s biggest shareholders and serves as executive chair, has acknowledged: \u201cOur enthusiasm for the project led us to communicate in a way that created confusion about who is responsible for what in Greenland \u2013 and that benefited no one, least of all the local communities closest to the project.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>The tundra of Jameson Land, which includes a conservation zone that is home to a number of bird populations. <\/span> Photograph: Biosphoto\/Alamy<\/p>\n At the Ittoqqortoormiit meeting, one person asked whether Swets had \u201cclose relations with Trump\u201d. Price replied: \u201cNot that I know of.\u201d<\/p>\n Social media posts by Swets\u2019s wife appear to show that this year she visited Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago club. Swets did not respond to questions about whether he had accompanied his wife to Trump\u2019s Florida residence, which serves as a presidential court away from the White House.<\/p>\n Although Swets has said the oil project is \u201cnot related to American annexation\u201d, Greenland Energy\u2019s connections to the US president are growing, as the company amasses an eclectic array of Trump-linked backers.<\/p>\n In April, the Wall Street billionaire Kenneth Griffin bought 9% of Greenland Energy\u2019s shares. Griffin is a Republican mega-donor and, despite criticising the Trumps\u2019 self-enrichment, gave $1m towards the president\u2019s second inauguration.<\/p>\n Then in June, a US Navy veteran, Carol Craig, joined Greenland Energy\u2019s board. Sidus Space, the defence tech company she founded, is working on Trump\u2019s Golden Dome missile defence system. Trump has said that controlling Greenland, home to the US armed forces\u2019 space base at Pituffik, is a \u201cvital\u201d part of the Golden Dome plan.<\/p>\n The same month, Greenland Energy announced a deal with Phil McGraw\u2019s Envoy Media. Better known as Dr Phil, the TV personality\u2019s 20 years hosting a talkshow that spun out of Oprah Winfrey\u2019s show made him a household name in the US.<\/p>\n <\/span>Phil McGraw, right, better known as Dr Phil, is making a documetary series about Greenland Energy. <\/span> Photograph: Abaca\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n McGraw spoke at a Trump rally in 2024. After Trump\u2019s victory, McGraw \u201cembedded\u201d himself with ICE agents enforcing Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown. His latest venture, a documentary series about Greenland Energy, will be broadcast on cable and social media and, according to the company, will \u201ccapture the mission of these modern-day wildcatters\u201d.<\/p>\n Discussing the prospect of oil with Swets and Price in a YouTube curtain-raiser, McGraw says: \u201cWe\u2019ve heard Trump talk about buying Greenland and everybody laughed, but actually there is some real value to Greenland.\u201d<\/p>\n Days later, McGraw was in the Oval Office with Trump, saying how honoured he was to serve on the president\u2019s Religious Liberty Commission. \u201cThank you very much, Phil,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI appreciate your support.\u201d<\/p>\n Some Greenland Energy shareholders are hoping the president will show similar appreciation for its Arctic oil exploration. On a dedicated Telegram group, they discuss what might send the company\u2019s stock price higher. Referring to a presidential plug for the company that could make them richer before a drop of oil has been drilled, they are hoping to secure what they are calling a \u201cTrump pump\u201d.<\/p>\n Get in touch<\/p>\n If you have something to share about this story, you can contact Tom using one of the following methods:<\/p>\n The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS\/Android) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019. To send a message to Tom Burgis please choose the \u2018UK Investigations\u2019 team.<\/p>\n If you can safely use the tor network without being observed or monitored you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.<\/p>\n Finally, our guide at theguardian.com\/tips\u00a0lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span>Show more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On 10 June, a snowy-haired American in his 60s addressed the residents of a remote Greenland hamlet. He was there to tell them about a business venture supported by figures linked to Donald Trump. \u201cSo,\u201d Robert Price said via an interpreter, \u201cwe have a project to drill for oil here.\u201d The Texas oil company that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[2071,7342,24972,6919,15819,268,1010,24314],"class_list":{"0":"post-51063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-company","9":"tag-drill","10":"tag-elbowing","11":"tag-greenland","12":"tag-licensed","13":"tag-oil","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-trumplinked"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Licence to drill<\/h2>\n
Trump connections<\/h2>\n
Contact Tom Burgis about this story<\/h4>\n
Secure Messaging in the Guardian app<\/h4>\n
SecureDrop<\/h4>\n