Denmark's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed on October 14 that the agreement signed last month between Denmark, Greenland and the United States does not change the rules governing resource extraction, after US President Donald Trump declared that large-scale oil and mineral exploration was about to begin in Greenland.
According to the Danish Foreign Ministry, the deal "does not grant American investors any preferential treatment" compared with investors from other NATO and EU countries in gaining access to Greenland's natural resources.
On his Truth Social platform, President Trump called the semi-autonomous Danish territory "our beautiful new Greenland," writing: "Large-scale Oil, Gas, and Mineral exploration is about to begin," without offering details.
What the agreement covers
On September 22, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen signed a 10-page agreement, ending months of tension over Trump's statements about controlling Greenland.
The agreement allows the United States to "modernize and expand" its operations at Pituffik Space Base, its remote military facility in northwestern Greenland. The document also paves the way for two new military bases and Trump's "Golden Dome" missile defense system, while reaffirming Denmark's sovereignty and the right of Greenlanders to self-determination.
However, the agreement allocates no mining or oil drilling rights.
Greenland's ban
Greenland has banned uranium mining and all future oil and gas exploration since 2021. Greenlandic authorities are currently examining whether a Texas-based company called Greenland Energy can use licenses granted before the ban.
In August, the company said it planned to drill for oil in 2027 in an unproven sedimentary basin off the east coast of Greenland, although it has no separate license.
Danish security policy adviser Jacob Kaarsbo suggested Trump's remarks may indicate that his ambitions to control Greenland remain unchanged. "It is extremely dangerous to regard the agreement between the Trump administration and Denmark as something that has changed Trump's intentions," he said.
Senior researcher Mikkel Olesen of the Danish Institute for International Studies told Al Jazeera that the details on mining and exploration rights remain unclear, and that the information comes mainly from the US side and should therefore be viewed "with caution."
Richard Weitz, an expert at the NATO Defense College in Rome, said Trump "has conceded and accepted less" than what he sought, but still "achieved almost everything he wanted, except formal annexation."
