A $1 Trillion Frozen Fortune, Dr. Phil, and the Village That Said Wait
Robert Price, CEO of the Texas company Greenland Energy, says the world's last frontier oil field lies beneath the ice of Jameson Land in eastern Greenland. An independent engineering report puts the unrisked prospective resource at up to 13 billion barrels, worth more than $1 trillion at current prices — though company filings stress these are prospective resources, not reserves, and no modern exploration well has ever been drilled in the basin. The company listed through a SPAC in March 2026, says it has raised $70 million, plans to spend $60 million on two exploration wells, has taken a major stake from Ken Griffin's Citadel, and hired Halliburton for logistics. The licence area covers roughly 8,100 square kilometres, with a working interest of up to 70 percent available to Price's side.
Greenland's Ministry of Business and Mineral Resources issued a "strong warning" after equipment came ashore without approval, stating that "all future logistical matters must be advised and approved by the mineral resources authority — before they are carried out." Minister Múte B. Egede said he could understand if citizens were concerned, and added: "Activities cannot be carried out until the necessary permits have been granted. I must say again that the company's statements to the public do not always reflect the actual situation."
Greenland stopped issuing new oil and gas exploration licences in July 2021, citing the climate crisis. Jameson Land licences granted between 2014 and 2018 were grandfathered in and remain legally valid. But the exemptions do not cover environmental scrutiny: a positive impact assessment requires the backing of the people of Ittoqqortoormiit, and the company never secured it.
The Danish outlet Danwatch reported that an excavator and 15 shipping containers arrived at Nerlerit Inaat in July. The company said a vessel carrying a further 300 containers and a drilling rig would leave Canada on September 12, with drilling to begin in October. The government said Greenland Energy had tried to sail under an expired permit; when the company switched to airlifting gear instead, regulators treated it as an end-run around the rules. Operations were pushed to October, and a week later all drilling was suspended until 2027.
Price chose Dr. Phil — Phil McGraw, a former member of Trump's religious freedom commission — to tell the story. The first episode runs 44 minutes, titled "Frozen Gold: Oil's Final Frontier," in which McGraw interviews Price and previews later instalments of the adventure. A company representative had already claimed at a June community meeting that the firm had permission to land equipment; chair Larry Swets later conceded that "our enthusiasm for the project led us to communicate in a way that created confusion."
Greenlanders, already on edge about Trump's repeated threats to take over the territory, saw the documentary as a self-serving American narrative. Local regulators withdrew their backing, and Price cut ties with Dr. Phil. In an interview with CNN he insisted politics play no part: "This is about bringing capital to Greenland. It has nothing to do with the Trump administration. Politics will come and go, but our project will be there for a long period of time."
Ittoqqortoormiit, 30 miles from the drilling site and home to about 300 people (329 as of 2026), is where the project stalls. Price told residents in June that Greenland would get 15 percent of revenues in taxes and 100 jobs; community leader Hans Brolund called him manipulative and refused to believe him. The regional mayor, Avaaraq Olsen, said she was "so afraid" that an American oil strike would align with Trump's ambitions: "We have always lived in peace and harmony. And suddenly there is all these Americans trying to take over."
The planned drilling area appears to fall within a conservation zone protected under the Ramsar Convention on wetlands, and Greenland's own environmental assessments warn that seals are vulnerable to oil spills that could close hunting grounds — hunting and fishing being the economic backbone of local families. Approving the project would open the door to drilling in a sensitive region just as Greenland steps back from new licences; rejecting it adds fresh friction to an already fraught debate over US ambitions.
GLND climbed from about $1.40 in late August to $5.35 by September 24; on September 21 it closed at $2.88, up 140 percent on the day, for a market capitalisation near $124 million. The company still has no production, no revenue and no proved reserves: it opened near $13 and hit $23 on day one, then fell to $1.20 six months later. Trump's Greenland envoy, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry, has claimed the island could be exporting oil within ten months.
An amended deal with British partner 80 Mile extended both well deadlines to December 31, 2028, paid 80 Mile £500,000 and handed Price's company sole responsibility for permits, with an indicative £61.48 million offer for 80 Mile on the table. The company now plans a single well first and calls recent talks with regulators "constructive." Greenland still controls the two gates that matter — environmental approval and drilling permits — so whether the first bit touches ground depends on paperwork, and on that village of 300.