Umiat Umiat Umiat is a small facility located about 150 southeast of Barrow and 70 miles southwest of Nuiqsut on the north shore of the Colville River.
Access is limited mostly to air or occasionally river traffic.
Ever since its establishment during the late 40's and early 50's, Umiat has served as an oil and gas facility and has no significance to the Natives. It is also the site of the first oil strike on the North Slope, and it predates Prudhoe Bay by 20 years. After the NPR-4 was laid aside in 1923, limited exploration was done around the Umiat area until the discovery of oil seeps in 1943. These oil seeps sparked interest of many, and in 1944 a party of Navy enlisted men structurally mapped the area in detail. Scars still remain from the early days of exploration.