Zero wells will be drilled in East Greenland this winter. That was the outcome on August 12, 2026, when Greenland’s government told a Trump-linked oil venture that its permits would not arrive in time.
The bottom line for investors: the drilling start moves out by at least a year. Greenland Energy Company, a Nasdaq-listed US firm, said permits are now targeted for winter 2027, according to Arctic Today. Energy News Pro quoted the company as aiming for “winter 2027-2028.” Either way, the 2026 plan is dead.
Why the government said no
Naalakkersuisut, Greenland’s government, said the environmental and societal studies needed for approval were not finished. In its words, “the necessary administrative procedure cannot be completed, and the required authorizations will therefore not be issued before the planned drilling start date.” It told Greenland Energy to revise its timeline.
The project sits at the first of 11 steps in the exploration phase, Arctic Today reported. A 35-day consultation on the project description comes next, then impact assessments with eight more weeks of consultation, then talks on an impact benefit agreement. Jørgen Hammeken-Holm, head of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, told Danwatch that “drilling this winter was not possible.”
An earlier misstep had already soured things. On July 29 and 30 a tugboat towed a barge with an excavator and more than a dozen containers into Nerlerit Inaat, about 40 kilometers from Ittoqqortoormiit. The ministry said the next day that the license holder had no approval to land the gear and that all future logistics must be cleared in advance. It did not order the containers removed. 80 Mile plc, which holds the licenses through its subsidiary White Flame Energy, said it had stored the equipment under a lease with Greenland Airports and had not realized a separate permit was needed. Company officials said they “took the warning seriously.”
The Trump connection
The venture draws attention because of who is around it. IBTimes reported that board member Carol Craig founded a defense technology company with Pentagon work tied to Trump’s missile defense program, and that financier Kenneth Griffin, who gave $1 million to Trump’s second inauguration, bought about 9% of Greenland Energy earlier this year. Greenland Energy says the oil project runs separately from any push to acquire Greenland.
By the numbers
Greenland Energy reached Nasdaq in March through a SPAC merger and raised $70 million in April. Its executives have put as much as $1 trillion of crude under Jameson Land. The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland estimates about 2.35 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Earlier drilling in Greenland brought 21 wells and no commercial discovery.
The licenses, three of them, predate a 2021 decision that ended new oil licensing in Greenland, and they are the last in the country. The area covers approximately 8,427 square kilometers of the Jameson Land basin. Hammeken-Holm said no application had been filed to land the 300 containers and rig. Robert Price, Greenland Energy’s chief executive, put the delay this way: “Operating in the Arctic requires patience, flexibility and a long-term perspective.”
Sources
- Trump-Linked Oil Venture Delays Greenland Drilling Over Government Warning
- Greenland Energy postpones winter drilling after landing gear without permission
- Greenland Postpones Greenland Energy's Exploratory Drilling to Winter 2027-2028
