The feature length documentary The Cost of Oil: Voices from the Arctic examines the subsistence lifestyle of one Inupiat society in Point Hope, Alaska that may be forever altered, or even destroyed, by exploration and drilling for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Captivating images and footage from the Alaskan North Slope set the scene for the native peoples to describe how their cultural heritage, hunting methods, language, and subsistence lifestyle will be affected by offshore oil drilling. The Inupiat tell of their struggles of balancing the poverty relating to increased globalization with preserving their historical way of life. This strife is multiplied by attempting to pass on their rich cultural ancestry to teens striving to identify who they are and where they belong in a world where their future is so uncertain.

Members of the oil industry, expert biologists, environmentalists, and natives highlight the predicted effects of exploring and drilling for oil in the delicate Arctic ecosystem. Through this film viewers discover the irony of drilling for oil in order to become a more self-sustaining nation, and in doing so, potentially destroying a self-sustaining culture. What is the true cost of oil to this Arctic culture?