Under the headline “Heading for Greenland”, just over a week ago a photo was posted on LinkedIn of the drilling rig that the US oil company Greenland Energy wants to send from Canada to Greenland as part of its hunt for oil in Jameson Land.
And on Thursday, the oil company then issued a stock exchange announcement, in which it writes that the permits are progressing and that it is still working to drill for oil in East Greenland in December:
“The latest meetings between project management and the Greenlandic authorities have been constructive, and we remain confident about the progress being made in the work to obtain the final approvals required before drilling can begin,” it says.
Danwatch can now reveal that Greenland Energy, according to the Ministry of Mineral Resources, will not obtain the permits this year.
Neither to land 300 containers and a drilling rig, nor to carry out exploratory drilling.
This is clear after Naalakkersuisut published new details about the oil project in Jameson Land on a new information page.
91 days of public consultations still missing
It states that the project is still only at the first of a total of 11 steps in the exploration phase, where the company investigates whether there is oil or gas underground.
Naalakkersuisut writes that Greenland Energy has met most of the requirements in the first part of the process. But before the company can be granted permission to carry out exploratory drilling in Jameson Land, it must submit a project description as well as an environmental and social study – the so-called EIA and SIA reports.
These still need to be prepared.
And that is where the arithmetic becomes interesting.
Once the project description has been received, it must be put out for public consultation for 35 days.
After that, the consultation responses must be processed before the company, on the basis of the approved project description, can prepare the environmental and social studies – the so-called EIA and SIA reports. Only then can they be sent out for public consultation
That takes 8 weeks.
After that, the material must again be processed by both the company and Naalakkersuisut before negotiations on a so-called IBA agreement can begin. This is the agreement intended to ensure that the Greenlandic society benefits from the project.
This means that even if Greenland Energy submitted the project description today, approval would not be in place until 8 November at the earliest – provided that all subsequent steps are completed in record time.
And that is not possible, confirms the head of the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Jørgen Hammeken-Holm, to Danwatch.
With that arithmetic, they cannot drill this winter as they are planning, can they?
“No,” the department head says briefly.
Omitting a key prerequisite
The two planned drilling sites in Jameson Land are located in so-called RAMSAR areas, which are internationally protected wetlands. And that puts additional time pressure on Greenland Energy.
To protect the fragile Arctic nature, drilling may only take place in winter. However, the heavy drilling equipment must be transported in during the summer, while the fjord is navigable.
A missing permit this year therefore means that Greenland Energy will have to wait until the next drilling season.
That message stands in stark contrast to Greenland Energy’s own description of the project’s progress:
“Although drilling has not yet begun, the extensive work continues every day to ensure that the project stays on schedule,” the company wrote to investors on Thursday
The stock exchange announcement also states that “the parties have agreed to focus the 2026–2027 winter programme on one exploration well” rather than two.
Jørgen Hammeken-Holm confirms that he has spoken with Greenland Energy about the possibility of drilling only one well this winter. By and large, the statements in the stock exchange announcement are correct, he says. However, there is a big “but”:
“They omit something absolutely essential. Namely, that it can only be done under significant prerequisites – and that is if they have permits. And they will not obtain those this year,” he says.
Reprimand and warning
This is not the first time Greenland Energy has faced criticism for its public statements.
Just under a month ago – in connection with a demonstration against the oil project – Greenland’s foreign affairs minister, Múte B. Egede, wrote on Facebook that the US oil company has “spoken far too confidently” and “without respect for Greenland”.
And among the population in Ittoqqortoormiit, the project’s nearest neighbour, there has long been concern about whether the company will land equipment and begin drilling without the authorities’ permission.
And the concern is apparently not unfounded.
Last week, Danwatch reported that Greenland Energy has shipped at least 15 containers of camp equipment from Tasiilaq to Nerlerit Inaat in Jameson Land without the necessary permit from the authorities.
For that, they received a reprimand and “a strong warning”.
Shipping company expects to sail drilling rig to Greenland
Greenland Energy has repeatedly stated that it plans to ship 300 containers of drilling equipment and a drilling rig from Canada to Jameson Land on 12 September.
Danwatch has spoken with the Canadian shipping company Desgagnés, with which Greenland Energy has entered into a contract. In an email, the shipping company’s vice-president states that the drilling rig has not yet arrived at their port in Montreal, but he confirms that Desgagnés has been booked to sail the drilling rig to Greenland in September.
According to Jørgen Hammeken-Holm, it makes sense that Greenland Energy is preparing well in advance. But he stresses that Greenland Energy has not yet applied for permission to land the containers. And that such a heavy transport will be included in the consultation of both the project description and the EIA report. Which is why the company should not expect approval for it until next summer at the earliest.
But what if they do it anyway? What if they sail the 300 containers to Greenland in September, as they say they will?
“Then we will deal with it from there. They can sail as much as they like, but they must not go ashore,” Jørgen Hammeken-Holm states firmly.
According to the information page, the authorities can reject applications, issue orders and/or stop activities if the requirements are not met. Ultimately, the authorities also have the option of withdrawing the permit.
“Too bad for them”
Danwatch has tried to obtain a comment from both Greenland Energy and CEO Roderick McIllree. But the company’s head of communications, Lars Damkjær, says that the company has decided only to do interviews with Greenlandic media.
To the Greenlandic media outlet KNR, Roderick McIllree has previously said that they are simply getting the ship ready in anticipation of receiving the permit:
“If we do not get it, we will pack up the ship, and the project will return to where it was before.”
In the same interview with KNR, he said that Greenland Energy may be forced to drop the oil project if they do not drill this year.
Jørgen Hammeken-Holm remains completely unfazed by that statement:
“Yes… That’s too bad for them,” the department head replies.
The Ministry of Mineral Resources expects to publish an updated timeline next week.
