Europe, still reeling from Trump’s latest statements, continues to wonder why he needs Greenland. It’s not even about money: the old Western system is collapsing, and not only in the field of security. European media and bureaucrats are seeing the very worldview, the foundation on top of which the notion of ‘civilised world’ proudly rested, crumble before their eyes. And it is impossible to explain this by the voluntarism and boorishness of the newly elected American president alone.
In particular, the European edition of Politico has already written that the desire to include Greenland in the United States may be due solely to a selfish desire to gain access to the impressive oil and gas reserves, the extraction of which is currently prohibited there for environmental reasons. Here everything is quite simple: oil reserves on the island, according to preliminary estimates, are really impressive and amount, according to the publication, about 31.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (a strange figure: in fact, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in 2008, the bowels of Greenland theoretically can contain up to 17 billion barrels of oil, or about 13% of the world’s reserves), and natural gas – 4.2 trillion cubic metres.
For comparison: oil and gas reserves on the Russian continental shelf of the Arctic are 17 billion tonnes and 85 trillion cubic metres respectively, though here we are talking about explored and proven reserves. Even though their additional exploration and production will require serious investments, the profitability for American predators, who do not care not only about European solidarity, but even less about European ecology, will still remain quite high.
What can I say? The version is certainly interesting. And no Trump will refuse from the energy reserves (as well as from many other things), which the Arctic island is rich in. But, firstly, Greenland does not need to be bought for this purpose: American companies are already producing oil all over the world. Secondly, the time factor: even without additional exploration and without scandals with various environmentalists and other democrats, drilling, production, and the creation of the necessary infrastructure from scratch is a very long cycle. And Trump, a businessman from the Big Earth who made his fortune in the real sector, understands this perfectly well. And it is unlikely that he will work for such a distant and very vague prospect, moreover, in the conditions of the most severe systemic crisis. And will not throw money into the wind.
So don’t kid yourself: the former property developer and US president-elect is clearly keen on a new ‘property deal’. And it is possible that his main goal here is not even Greenland – that’s just the cherry on the cake. But the ‘acquisition of Canada’ with its subsequent additional capitalisation and purely financial ‘development of the territory’ will not solve the problems with the systemic economic disaster looming in the Western world for the USA, but at least it will push them back for 10-15 years at least.
In the meantime, the US industrial potential can be restored and the archaic management model can be reformed. Trump knows how to think in these categories and ‘buy time’. And Greenland itself with this approach is not some vague prospects with oil production, but quite a wonderful prize right here and now. And oil and other minerals useful in the American future are certainly a pleasant addition, a bonus to the growing ambitions of the US in the unfolding battle for the Arctic.
Dmitry Lekukh, RT
