A Texas-based oil company, Greenland Energy, is pushing to drill for oil beneath Jameson Land in eastern Greenland, backed by figures linked to Donald Trump. At a June meeting in the remote settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit, the company's representative, Robert Price, told residents it had permission to land drilling equipment and had filed pending applications to drill — but Greenland's resources ministry flatly denied any active permissions exist. The dispute matters because Trump's allies are invoking the prospect of a major American oil find to strengthen the case for a US takeover of the Danish territory, alarming local officials who fear losing control of a place they describe as peaceful.

Greenland Energy, formed last year and listed on the Nasdaq, is seeking to exploit surviving exploration licences held by a UK-registered firm called 80 Mile, offering $60m to drill two wells in return for a majority stake. Price claims up to $1tn (£750bn) of crude may lie beneath the region and says a chartered Arctic vessel will carry 300 containers of kit 4,000km, departing on 12 September with drilling from October, with Halliburton handling logistics. Greenland halted new oil exploration licences in 2021 on environmental grounds, and the planned wells sit within a Ramsar-protected wetland home to muskoxen and important goose populations. Trump's special envoy, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry, has claimed the territory could export 2m barrels a day, while the local mayor, Avaaraq Olsen, said she was "so afraid" of Americans "trying to take over".