Shipping containers and machinery have already arrived in Greenland. Photo: private photo
Exploration drilling programme in Greenland postponed and slimmed down
It turns out that necessary permits still need to be obtained before work can proceed
Earlier this year, we reported on a planned two-well onshore exploration campaign to be carried out by Greenland Energy on Jameson Land, in the east of Greenland. At the time, the expectation was to commence drilling in July already, targeting prospects of Jurassic to Permian age. Finance for the two wells seemed to be in place, as I was told, but now it appears that the permits were not.
This has now been reported by various media, with today’s post by KNR providing a summary of the current situation. The website reports that the company has only just started the first step in the permitting process by drafting up a project description. It also mentions that this will be followed by two public hearings and that several reports will be required as well as a large number of regulatory approvals before any drilling can go ahead.
In the meantime, the company already started shipping drilling equipment to Greenland, with a series of containers having arrived at the airport of Nerlerit Inaat.
Greenland Energy has also decided to reduce the programme from two wells to one. We approached the company to ask which well they are now planning to drill, but we have not received a response. Based on the ERCE Resource Evaluation Report produced for the company in 2025, and the associated prospective volumes related to each of the assessed well locations, it seems likely that OPW-1 is the main candidate.
But the question now is, when will it be drilled? 80 Mile, the owner of the licences, issued a press release today stating that “current guidance by the regulator is for winter 2027 drilling.” The company also acknowledges that it received a warning from the Government of Greenland concerning the landing of equipment, because necessary permits were not in place when the material arrived.
The Jameson Land acreage consists of three licences that were initially awarded in 2015 and 2019. All three are now set to expire on 31 December 2028. With drilling now planned for the winter of 2027, there will not be much more room for delays in the drilling programme.
Based on conversations with people with knowledge on the matter, the chance of finding commercial quantities of oil are slim, because the Jameson peninsula represents an uplifted petroleum system. For that reason, seals may have been breached, source rocks lifted out of the kitchen, and oil that was generated subsequently leaked from the reservoirs. Observed slicks at surface may point to that process still happening today.
