By Jayujyoti Mullick
After a long struggle, offshore oil is flowing again through a contentious pipeline network running from California’s Central Coast to Kern County after more than a decade. Through an executive order on March 16, President Donald Trump allowed Sable Offshore Corporations to resume oil flow through pipeline structures running across Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern counties.
The Houston-based company Sable Offshore Corporation has been trying to restart this offshore oil operation infrastructure for more than a year.
The reopening of the petroleum logistics through the structured pipelines stands as one of the latest escalations in the ongoing long-time battle between the California executives and President Trump administration over energy policy and safeguards. The oil network in California has remained closed since 2015 after a corroded pipe in the Santa Ynez unit burst, causing the state’s worst oil spills in history. That was under different ownership during that time.
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Sable Corps. had to struggle a lot to restart this offshore oil production and win the necessary approvals and permissions from the California regulators, despite accusations of repeatedly neglecting directives of the state and local officials. Also, the company has been accused of ignoring criminal acts related to the California environmental and coastal laws.
On March 13, President Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright ordered Sable to reimpose operations at the Santa Ynez unit by invoking the Defense Production Act, arguing that the nation’s energy needs supplant local regulations.
California Governor Gavin Newsom strongly criticized Trump over his efforts to restart the offshore oil operations in Santa Ynez, accusing the administration of exploiting the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
In a statement released on March 13, Newsom said Trump is “illegally invoking emergency powers” to force the restart of the Sable Offshore pipeline. The unit has been shut since a 2015 oil spill. He added that the move is part of a broader attempt to deflect blame for rising fuel prices linked to the conflict.
“Donald Trump started a war, admitted it would spike gas prices nationwide, and told Americans it was a small price to pay,” Newsom said.
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The governor argued that the project would have minimal economic benefit in the ongoing oil scarcity, stating it “wouldn’t lower prices by a cent” while posing renewed environmental risks to California’s coastline. Newsom vowed legal action, calling this a “desperate political stunt” that threatens the coastal communities and violates existing court orders.
Sable, on the other hand, said it had 540,000 barrels of processed crude oil stored as of March 13, and it has plans to bring two other offshore rigs online by June. Sable has reportedly planned to begin sales by April 1 at a rate of 50,000 each day.
“Sable is fully staffed and will continue to implement the conditions of the emergency special permit,” the company wrote in its update.