Sable Offshore requests federal regulator take over restart plan oversight from State Fire Marshal

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Sable Offshore has requested that federal regulators assume authority over its attempts to restart oil production in the local area.

According to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Sable Offshore informed investors that it had determined that the pipeline connecting the Santa Ynez Unit to Pentland Station in Kern County is technically an interstate pipeline under the Pipeline Safety Act.

That designation was sent for confirmation with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Administration and included a request to transfer regulatory authority from the California Office of State Fire Marshal to the federal regulator.

The extent of transferred regulatory authority was not made clear in the filing and the Office of State Fire Marshal told Your News Channel Monday that it had not received notice of the request.

The Houston-based energy company also noted in its 8-K filing that it was continuing to pursue production at the entire Santa Ynez Unit as well as an offshore storage and treating vessel plan.

In September of this year, Sable Offshore, a company working to restart oil production locally since early last year, submitted a formal Request for Approval of Restart Plans to the California Office of State Fire Marshal and requested expedited approval for permits to construct an alternative way to transport crude oil in federal waters.

If the alternative is approved and pursued, the Office of State Fire Marshal shared with Your News Channel that it may not have any regulatory authority over the offshore production infrastructure.

The image below from an informational slide presented to investors by Sable Offshore shows the assets that make up the Santa Ynez Unit in both federal and state waters as well as onshore facilities.

The month after submitting the restart plans, the Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) noted that the company had not met restart requirements regarding tool sizing tolerance found in item 9 of the safety waivers granted by the state regulator to Sable Offshore in December of last year.

The state safety regulator argued that full remediation requires a permanent repair method and that tool tolerance -the acceptable variation in tool accuracy- is included in the state's safety waivers.

In response, Sable Offshore sent a letter the following day stating that the OSFM's conclusions, "are in error" and the requirements to use safety tools found within the waivers must be conducted within seven days of achieving initial steady state operation, but not before restart.

Sable Offshore's attempts to restart oil production at the Santa Ynez Unit has faced stiff opposition from other state-based regulators, county authorities, and environmental organizations.

Despite that opposition, in May of this year, Sable Offshore announced that oil production had already resumed from six wells on Platform Harmony and that the company expected to fill the 540,000 barrels of crude oil storage at the Las Flores Canyon facility by July.

"SOC [Sable Offshore] is proud to have safely and responsibly achieved first production at the Santa Ynez Unit," shared Jim Flores, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sable Offshore in May. "The impressive well tests from Platform Harmony confirm the prolific nature of the Santa Ynez Unit reservoir after being dormant for ten years. SOC is excited about our development plan and prospects for the future. This milestone achievement is a result of a tremendous amount of effort from all of Sable’s employees, contractors, Board of Directors, stakeholders, and suppliers. We are very grateful for the cooperation and partnership from our local community and regulatory bodies as we seek to provide energy security to the State of California."

The announcement came almost exactly ten years after the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill from ruptured Line 901, now known as Line 324 and shown as the blue line along the Gaviota Coast in the image below, which impacted 150 miles of California coastline and destroyed thousands of acres of shoreline habitats.

The California State Lands Commission warned Sable Offshore that its claims in May may have violated state regulations as well as the language found within the state regulator's leases with the company and Sable Offshore was already facing class action lawsuits alleging that it had mislead investors in its May announcement about restarting production, is also facing various lawsuits alleging violations of the California Coastal Act, and on Sep. 16, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office filed criminal charges against the company over alleged violations of state environmental laws.

Just three days after criminal charges were filed against the company, the Chairman and CEO of Sable Offshore filed a request for expedited permitting and installation of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel with members of the federal National Energy Dominance Council.

The proposed offshore transportation and treating vessel location would be approximately one nautical mile away from Platform Harmony and could bypass much, if not all, of the legal oversight of California regulators regarding restart plans.

"Sable has consistently ignored California law, as confirmed by the court’s decision today [May 28, 2025] to halt work on this aging oil pipeline in Santa Barbara," said a spokesperson on behalf of the California Coastal Commission which is a litigant against Sable Offshore during its pipeline repair activities. "This fly-by-night oil company has repeatedly abused the public’s trust, racking up millions of dollars in fines and causing environmental damage along the treasured Gaviota Coast."

Your News Channel has reached out to the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Administration and representatives of Sable Offshore and their respective responses will be added to this article when they are received.