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President Donald Trump’s persistent interest in Greenland has put a spotlight on what lies beneath the vast Arctic island, including potentially valuable deposits of critical minerals and oil.
That focus intensified this week after Trump reached a security agreement with Denmark and Greenland that he is signing on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday — a deal the administration says is intended to strengthen U.S. influence in the Arctic and bolster long-term investment in the island.
The focus on obtaining control and influence in Greenland, which also has a highly strategic location in the world, comes as wars in Ukraine and Iran expose vulnerabilities in global energy supplies and the U.S. looks to reduce its dependence on foreign sources of critical minerals.
“One of the reasons that we are exploring for oil in Greenland is because of what’s going on in the Strait of Hormuz right now,” Robert Price, CEO of Greenland Energy Company and president of USFM Corporation, told Fox News Digital.
Price’s two companies are pursuing separate oil and mineral projects in Greenland, including plans to drill an exploratory oil well in 2027 and ongoing mineral exploration in the island’s west.
Greenland’s melting ice is opening new Arctic shipping routes and exposing critical mineral resources, adding to the island’s growing strategic importance. (Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
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Those projects are taking on new significance as conflicts abroad strain global energy supplies and highlight vulnerabilities in critical supply chains. The Iran conflict has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil supplies, while the war in Ukraine has put energy infrastructure at the center of the conflict.
Trump announced an agreement with Denmark and Greenland on Friday that would expand the U.S. military presence on the island while keeping Greenland under Danish sovereignty. Full details have not yet been made public, but Fox News Digital obtained exclusive insights into some of the specifics of the agreement.
“We don’t want to be dependent on China for our rare earth minerals, and we don’t want to be dependent on Russia for them either,” Price said.
“Critical minerals, they touch every part of our lives, which includes our cellphones, our computers, batteries, power storage, power generation,” he said.
Price’s USFM has been drilling around Disko Island in western Greenland for nickel, copper, palladium and cobalt, commodities used in electronics, batteries, energy and manufacturing.
“This mining district could be one of the largest mining districts in the world,” he said, comparing its potential with Russia’s mineral-rich Norilsk region.
The scale Price described has not been proven, with exploratory drilling still underway.
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Greenland’s potential riches aren’t limited to minerals.
Price’s Greenland Energy Company is pursuing permits for an exploratory oil well planned for 2027. Its licenses are on Greenland’s eastern side, where Price said the geology resembles the petroleum-producing North Sea.
“Our licenses are similar to the same petroleum system as the North Sea,” Price said, noting that his company has sampled oil on and below the surface.
But Greenland’s value extends beyond what may lie beneath the surface.
Sitting between North America and Europe and extending into the Arctic, the island has played a role in U.S. defense for decades. The U.S. maintains Pituffik Space Base there, its northernmost Defense Department installation.
A composite image shows President Donald Trump overlaid on a protest in Greenland. Trump announced an agreement concerning U.S. security interests in Greenland, while Denmark and Greenland have emphasized that the deal preserves their sovereignty and territorial integrity. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images; rtur Widak/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Price said Trump’s emerging deal with Denmark and Greenland could provide greater security and give companies more confidence to invest in projects that take years to develop.
“What it does is it shores up long-term investment in Greenland, and that’s what our projects are,” Price said. “They’re long-term investments from oil, gas, and minerals.”
“We’re really excited about this agreement,” he added.
