ConocoPhillips seeks 20-year Meltwater easement renewal on North Slope

The Meltwater easement sits in a working slice of the North Slope about 10 miles east of the Colville River and west of the Kuparuk River Unit, where ConocoPhillips Alaska already has a pipe rack, a suspended power line, an original power line and the Meltwater gravel road in place. The company is now asking state regulators for a 20-year renewal of that private non-exclusive easement, a request that would keep the 133.06-acre corridor in service and expand the footprint by another 1.6 acres.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources received the amended application on May 29, and posted public notice on June 3. The Division of Oil and Gas is handling the case as ADL 417187 under state land rules, with written comments due June 30. The notice puts the easement squarely in the category of land-use decisions that shape how oil-field infrastructure is maintained on the North Slope, not just how paperwork moves through Juneau.

What makes the filing more than a routine renewal is the work ConocoPhillips wants to do along the road. The company is seeking permission to place 13,500 cubic yards of gravel, replace 11 existing culverts and possibly extend up to three more. Those improvements are tied to the Kuparuk Road Upgrade Project and are described as necessary before the company moves heavy Willow Central modules. On the ground, that means more truck traffic, more gravel placement, and more control over drainage and road stability in an already built-out industrial corridor.

The broader Willow buildout helps explain why this permit matters. ConocoPhillips says heavier modules would first arrive at Oliktok Dock, east of the Colville River, then move by existing gravel roads and land-based ice roads to the Willow Central Facility. The company has also said Willow is designed with mitigation for subsistence activities, including road access, boat launches, subsistence road pullouts, subsistence trails and a minimum 7-foot pipeline height.

The Bureau of Land Management says Willow’s master development plan EIS followed a May 10, 2018 submission from ConocoPhillips, and that a federal court vacated the record of decision and final EIS in August 2021, triggering a supplemental review process. In April 2023, the Alaska Department of Law said Willow was estimated to produce more than 600 million barrels over 30 years. Against that backdrop, the Meltwater easement renewal is a reminder that the biggest industrial projects on the North Slope still depend on the smallest practical pieces of infrastructure: roads, culverts, gravel and the right to keep moving equipment across them.