80 Mile told Newsweek that it believes the project has significant upside potential for Greenland itself, and that it was frustrated that efforts to capitalize on the Arctic territory\u2019s energy potential had been eclipsed by the ongoing dispute over its sovereignty<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read More on World<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a shame that the current controversy surrounding the U.S. and Greenland has colored our activities, which have been taking place in Greenland for more than 20 years,\u201d the company said. \u201c80 Mile is politically unaligned, and our focus has always been on doing things the right way for Greenland.\u201d<\/p>\n Regarding the recent extension of its drilling timeline, 80 Mile said: \u201cIt has been a blow, but we will recover and persevere.\u201d<\/p>\n When contacted for comment on the potential implications for Trump’s Greenland strategy, an official told Newsweek that the White House has “nothing to do” with the drilling project.<\/p>\n What Is the Project?<\/p>\n In 2021, Greenland\u2019s government announced that it would stop issuing new oil and gas<\/a> exploration licenses, effectively banning the practice over environmental concerns.<\/p>\n However, the project is possible thanks to a preexisting license originally granted to White Flame Energy, which 80 Mile acquired in 2024. Their joint venture partner, the Texas-based Greenland Energy, will assume a majority stake in the project in exchange for $60 million in funding and for conducting the \u201ctechnical planning, operational readiness, logistics, and overall project coordination.\u201d<\/p>\n Greenland Energy boasts many links to the current U.S. administration\u2014Carol Craig, a director, leads a defense tech firm working on Trump\u2019s “Golden Dome” missile defense system<\/a>, while Phil McGraw\u2014the TV personality and Trump ally better known as Dr. Phil\u2014has been tasked with hosting a six-part documentary about Greenland Energy’s “historic Jameson Land Basin project.”<\/p>\n 80 Mile told Newsweek that the project has \u201cthe potential to rewire global oil flows if successful,\u201d while Greenland Energy believes the two-million-acre area could be home to around $1 trillion worth of oil.<\/p>\n \u201cEurope has benefited from North Sea oil extraction for many decades, in fact they (including Denmark<\/a>) built their respective economies from the revenues received from extracting oil from the North Sea,\u201d 80 Mile said. \u201cMy sense is Greenland is very interested in seeing how much of the North Sea oil bearing geology lies within their national borders.\u201d<\/p>\n Lukas Wahden, an associate fellow with the Russia Program at George Washington University and an expert on Arctic security, told Newsweek that the Greenlandic government is \u201cquite keen to exploit certain resources to stabilize their financial situation,\u201d which he said could support an eventual bid for full statehood.<\/p>\n How Trump-Greenland Dispute Complicates the Drilling<\/p>\n While Trump\u2019s interest in the Arctic territory dates back to his first term, proposals and threats to buy or annex Greenland have become more frequent since early last year.<\/p>\n Last March, Trump refused to rule out using military force<\/a> to take over the island, and similar remarks over his presidency have raised concern among America\u2019s European allies and U.S. lawmakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n The president has even threatened U.S. allies with tariffs for refusing to support the acquisition, though he backed down in January after reaching a \u201cframework of a future deal\u201d over the territory.<\/p>\n Officials from both Greenland and Denmark have rejected the possibility of U.S. ownership, and the three parties have been working this year on a compromise<\/a> that could address American concerns about Arctic security as well as sovereignty.<\/p>\n As 80 Mile acknowledged, much of the discussion around the Jameson project has concerned the president and his posturing toward Greenland, rather than the project itself or the company\u2019s other work developing Greenland\u2019s natural resources.<\/p>\n 80 Mile is currently involved in several rare earths projects in the territory. It recently began fieldwork at a deposit in South Greenland alongside the Australian-American company Critical Metals Corp, and is progressing on another in West Greenland. The latter is in partnership with USFM Corporation, a mineral exploration company connected to Robert Price, the CEO of Greenland Energy.<\/p>\n Wahden said that the Jameson project would not itself bolster Trump\u2019s case for annexation or an increased role of public and private U.S. interests in Greenland.<\/p>\n However, he said that if the project captures the president\u2019s attention, this could restart his aggressive posturing toward Greenland and \u201cderail the stabilization process\u201d that Greenland and Denmark have been pushing for this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIf his mood is swayed by this episode\u2026then obviously in the long term that could mean a more aggressive American position,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n What Is Next for the Project?<\/p>\n After the companies received a \u201cstrong warning\u201d from Greenlandic authorities for moving equipment to Greenland without securing the proper permissions, the government said that the project itself demanded a more thorough regulatory review before any drilling could commence.<\/p>\n “The company continues to work closely with the relevant authorities and will provide a further update on the timing of the drilling program once there is greater certainty around the permitting process,” 80 Mile said in an update last week. “Current guidance by the regulators is for winter 2027 drilling.”<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to get a bunch of sustainability licenses, and they also need to consult with the citizens of a nearby settlement, about 350 of them, who they are not currently enjoying all that brilliant a relation with,\u201d Wahden told Newsweek.<\/p>\n \u201cSo there is a legal pathway toward exploitation. It exists. It is granted by the license the company currently holds, but it’s by no means guaranteed,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd in the end, the final call is still with the Greenlandic authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n The company, meanwhile, told Newsweek the extra time needed for watertight compliance was a disappointment, but ultimately \u201ca good thing, even if it costs time and resources.”<\/p>\n \u201cThe Greenland government take their time with things, but they ultimately make sensible decisions,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton<\/a> and Sam Wilson<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An energy exploration company hoping to begin oil drilling in Greenland next year says U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[26,184,835,57,2068],"class_list":["post-150096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-greenland","tag-denmark","tag-donald-trump","tag-drilling","tag-greenland","tag-oil-and-gas"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117134446579907530","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2204397093.jpg\"\/)
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