A drilling company based in Alberta has found itself in the middle of a dispute between a U.S. oil company and the government of Greenland, after the American firm moved equipment to the self-governing Danish territory without permission.
Months after U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his threats to annex Greenland, the semi-autonomous Arctic island is pushing back against another threat — the setting up of drilling infrastructure by a U.S. oil company on its territory without permission.
U.S.-based oil company Greenland Energy has been preparing to drill for oil in Greenland, having moved drilling equipment to the island’s east coast, triggering a warning from Greenland in late July and a decision on Aug. 11 by the company to delay drilling until “winter 2027.”
In May, Greenland Energy said it had signed an agreement with Alberta’s Stampede Drilling to provide a high-performance drilling rig for their operations in Greenland’s Jameson Land Basin.
But Stampede Drilling said in a statement on Aug. 11 that its drilling rig “has not arrived in Greenland.”
“Stampede further confirms that it will not be landing a drilling rig in Greenland unless Greenland Energy’s drilling program receives all required regulatory consents and approvals of Greenlandic authorities,” the statement said.
Global News has reached out to Stampede Drilling with a list of questions, as well as an interview request for its CEO, Lyle Whitmarsh, but did not hear from the company by the time of publishing.
In May, Greenland Energy said it had inked a deal with Stampede Drilling.
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“Our agreement with Stampede Drilling Inc. positions the first wells of this campaign to probe one of the region’s most promising frontier plays, where the subsurface offers significant upside across multiple prospective zones,” the statement from Greenland Energy said.
In June, Stampede Drilling said it had received “upfront capital” for Greenland Energy’s operations.
“The upfront capital will fund modifications and enhancements required to ready the rig for the Arctic environment and drilling conditions,” Stampede Drilling said, adding that it planned to move its rig from Nisku, Alta., to Greenland in the third quarter of 2026.
However, Greenland has said the plans to drill are unauthorized and that the U.S. company does not have the proper approvals and permits to conduct that work, and that the permit that had previously been granted to a British firm that the U.S. firm planned to partner with was no longer valid.
“A strong warning will be sent to the rights holder with a reprimand stating that all future logistical matters must be notified and approved by the Mineral Resources Authority — before they are carried out,” the ministry said.
Greenland Energy said in a statement on Aug. 11 that it will abide by all of Greenland’s regulations.
“Greenland Energy remains committed to advancing its oil exploration program responsibly and in accordance with Greenland’s regulatory process, and in full compliance with Greenlandic authorities,” said Robert Price, CEO of Greenland Energy Company.
The company is expecting the permit to be granted by the winter of 2027, the statement added.
The planned exploration project is on a peninsula in eastern Greenland called Jameson Land Basin. The basin is “one of the largest underexplored conventional hydrocarbon basins in the Western world,” Greenland Energy said in a statement last week.
Greenland Energy had previously said that while the “permitting process continues to move forward through constructive engagement,” they could not wait to start logistical preparations.
“Waiting until permits are issued before initiating logistical preparations would unnecessarily delay operations and risk losing valuable time within Greenland’s limited operating season,” the company said.
British newspaper The Guardian reported the firm has several ties to officials within the Trump White House.
In January, Trump vowed to acquire Greenland, calling the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark “our territory” while addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“We need it for strategic national security and international security. This enormous unsecured island is actually part of North America on the northern frontier of the Western Hemisphere,” Trump said.
“That’s our territory.”
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