Sable Restarts Oil Production in Santa Barbara County as State Parks Denies Easement

Sable Offshore Corp. said it began moving oil through the long-idled Santa Ynez Pipeline System on Saturday under a federal directive issued by the U.S. Secretary of Energy, escalating a clash with California regulators who the same day denied the company a key easement and ordered it to remove a segment of pipeline running through Gaviota State Park.

In a press release, Sable said it restarted transportation of hydrocarbons on March 14 from Las Flores Canyon to Pentland Station “at the direction of” Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who on March 13 invoked authorities under the Defense Production Act (DPA) following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier that day.

Sable said federal safety regulators were present “in observance” as flows resumed and that the federally regulated Santa Ynez Pipeline System is “approved to operate.”

According to the company, the DPA order requires that “all federally produced barrels” from the offshore Santa Ynez Unit flow through the pipeline, up to its stated capacity of 200,000 barrels per day.

Sable said it completed an onshore anomaly repair program and hydrotested all pipeline segments as of May 2025, had roughly 540,000 barrels of processed crude stored at Las Flores prior to restart, and is operating under conditions of an emergency special permit previously issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Sable added that production is currently coming from Platform Harmony, with a ramp-up to “full production” at Platforms Harmony and Heritage expected this month and Platform Hondo in June. The company said it plans first sales by April 1 at an expected gross oil rate of 50,000 barrels per day.

“Sable Offshore is putting California consumers first by increasing domestic supply of crude oil into the California market by approximately 17%,” Chairman and CEO Jim Flores said in the statement.

State Parks denies easement, orders removal

Also on Saturday, the California Department of Parks and Recreation sent Sable a letter denying the company’s application for a new easement to use Gaviota State Park for pipeline transport and ordering the immediate removal of a roughly four-mile segment of the line that crosses the park.

“This letter is to notify Sable Offshore and Pacific Pipeline Company that [State Parks] is denying Sable’s easement request, and demanding Sable immediately remove the pipeline according to section 8 of the Expired Easement,” the department wrote, citing a 30-year easement granted to a predecessor company that expired in 2016. The agency said Sable’s project is “incompatible” with the park and has placed an “excessive drain on state resources,” and it is ceasing all easement negotiations and related environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

State Parks demanded a response within 10 days outlining plans to remove the pipeline on park lands and warned it would pursue legal action to defend state property rights if Sable does not comply.

The agency said it would withdraw the letter if Sable confirms in writing by noon on Monday, March 16, that it has not restarted Line 325 through Gaviota State Park and will not do so unless it secures all required state approvals and a new easement or wins a final court ruling that such approvals are not needed.

Legal fight intensifies

Sable said that on March 13 it filed suit with Pacific Pipeline Company in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California seeking declaratory relief to confirm the companies’ rights “under the DPA Order.” The case is styled “Sable Offshore Corp. and Pacific Pipeline Company, Plaintiffs v. Armando Quitero, in his official capacity as Director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Defendant,” No. 2:26-cv-02739.

The company also said State Parks sent a letter on March 14 “contesting Sable’s rights under the DPA Order.”

Sable previously disclosed it is pursuing financing options that include potential federal credit support, plans to refinance its senior secured term loan, deploy its commodity hedging program, and evaluate shareholder return options after first sales.

Environmental advocates condemn restart

Environmental groups criticized Sable’s actions and the federal orders enabling them, calling the restart unlawful and risky.

“It’s completely reasonable for State Parks to tell Sable to either comply with the law or get its pipeline out of Gaviota State Park, and this step will curb oil spill risk along our coast,” said Julie Teel Simmonds, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Oceans program.

Brady Bradshaw, a senior oceans campaigner with the Center, called the move “a dark day for California,” adding, “The cynical misuse of a national security law for the benefit [of] an oil company that has repeatedly broken the law is a shocking development.”

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Wishtoyo Foundation have a pending lawsuit against the California Office of the State Fire Marshal challenging waivers from corrosion-related pipeline safety requirements; the Environmental Defense Center filed a similar suit. The groups say the State Fire Marshal informed Sable in October that its corrosion-related repair work failed to meet restart standards.

In December, the Trump administration issued Sable an emergency special permit to enable a restart despite what critics describe as design defects—actions now being challenged in court by the state and environmental organizations.

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a strong rebuke on Friday encapsulating a global purview of the entire situation. Newsom called Trump’s move desperate, reckless, and illegal. He stated this move is Trump’s political attempt to point the finger at California to divide and distract the American people from his wartime failures and the massive spike in oil and gasoline prices his war has caused.

Oil from the Sable Offshore pipeline would be a “drop in the bucket,” according to Bloomberg—0.05% of total oil production—that would have no impact on lowering global oil prices. Experts and national security planners have warned that any conflict in the Persian Gulf risked closing the Strait of Hormuz and triggering a global oil supply shock. “Trump went to war either unprepared or willfully ignorant of what came next,” Newsom stated.

“Donald Trump started a war, admitted it would spike gas prices nationwide, and told Americans it was a small price to pay. Now he’s using this crisis of his own making to attempt what he’s wanted to do for years: open California’s coast for his oil industry friends so they can poison our beaches. This wouldn’t lower prices by a cent. This is an attempt to illegally restart a pipeline whose operators are facing criminal charges and prohibited by multiple court orders from restarting,” Newsom stated. “California will not stand by while the Trump administration attempts to sacrifice our coastal communities, our environment, and our $51 billion coastal economy. The Trump administration and Sable are defying multiple court orders, and we will see them back in court.”

Background: 2015 spill and years-long shutdown

The Santa Ynez Unit—which includes three offshore platforms, offshore pipelines, and onshore processing facilities—has been shut down since May 2015, when a corroded onshore pipeline ruptured and released an estimated 450,000 gallons of oil near Refugio State Beach, fouling about 150 miles of coastline, killing marine mammals and birds, and closing fisheries and beaches. Texas-based Sable Offshore purchased the assets from ExxonMobil in 2024 and has since sought to revive operations.

Those efforts have faced widespread public opposition, multiple lawsuits, and enforcement actions. Environmental groups including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Wishtoyo Foundation, and EDC have sued state agencies over corrosion-related waivers and permitting decisions. In July 2025, a judge granted a preliminary injunction—recently upheld—aimed at preventing a restart while legal challenges proceed, after Sable announced it had resumed production from one offshore platform and was storing oil onshore pending a pipeline restart.

State regulators have also raised concerns. The California State Fire Marshal told Sable late last year that the pipeline requires additional repairs before it can safely operate, according to the groups. The California Coastal Commission has cited Sable for unlawful work in sensitive coastal habitat, and the California attorney general and Santa Barbara County district attorney have sued over alleged unlawful discharges into creeks and waterways.

Under California law, Sable still needs key approvals, including an easement to operate through Gaviota State Park and a new Coastal Development Permit from the Coastal Commission. To date, environmental groups say no comprehensive environmental review or public hearings have been conducted as required for the restart.

In December, the Trump administration moved to assert federal control over the pipeline system from the State Fire Marshal and issued Sable an emergency special permit despite what critics describe as ongoing design defects—a step the state of California and environmental organizations are challenging in court.

This is a developing story.