Santa Barbara County Judge issues preliminary injunction against Sable Offshore as the company announces completion of pipeline tests
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – Sable Offshore announced that it has completed all required hydrotesting of onshore pipelines necessary to transport oil across Santa Barbara County, but the Houston-based company suffered a setback regarding repair work on along the coast in court Wednesday.
The announcement of pipeline work comes as representatives of Sable Offshore and the California Coastal Commission met Wednesday about the pending litigation between the two entities.
The injunction could impact Sable's ability to do future repairs or maintenance until its legal battle with the state regulator is settled.
Linda Krop with the Environmental Defense Center questioned Sable's assertions that it has completed all necessary repairs in an interview Wednesday with Your News Channel.
She shared that this is the first time a judge has ruled that Sable Offshore is violating the law instead of state regulators and environmental groups.
Krop, whose organization opposes restarting oil production and has been involved in multiple lawsuits related to the project, says Sable's attorney told the judge that granting the injunction would harm the company.
"If Sable really has completed all the repairs, they would be fine with this injunction," argued Krop. "The injunction only applies to repairs on the pipeline. So why does Sable care about this injunction if it's really completed the repairs?"
On Tuesday, May 27, Sable Offshore confirmed to investors in an 8K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the last outstanding hydrotest was performed on the final segment of Line 325.
All hydrotesting for both Lines 324 and 325 have been completed which was the final operational condition to restart their use and no more repairs are still required stated Sable Offshore.
One of those pipelines, Line 324, was formerly known as Line 901 which ruptured and caused the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill.
Sable Vice President Steve Rusch also sent Your News Channel a statement about Wednesday's decision that read, "Today’s [Wednesday, May 28] court hearing was about the maintenance and repair of the Las Flores Pipeline System. As of this morning, that work, including all hydrotesting of the lines, has been successfully completed. We look forward to overturning today’s decision, though it has no bearing on Sable’s plans to recommence oil sales by July. Sable will continue to aggressively defend our vested rights to pursue low carbon California oil and natural gas sorely needed to stabilize supply and lower consumer gasoline prices."
The image below, from an informational slide in an investor presentation by Sable Offshore and published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, shows all of the assets purchased by Sable Offshore from ExxonMobil in February of 2024, collectively referred to as the Santa Ynez Unit.
Your News Channel reported in May that an April declaration added to a lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court by Sable Offshore against the California Coastal Commission earlier this year, detailed that the only remaining construction work required before restarting oil production at the Santa Ynez Unit are 22 onshore pipeline anomaly sites.
Altogether, the outstanding work on pipeline anomaly repairs was estimated to take about six weeks shared Sable Offshore in its court filings on April 17 of this year making the necessary repair work's expected completion at the end of this month.
A California Coastal Commission spokesperson sent a statement in response to Your News Channel's inquiries stating, "Sable has consistently ignored California law, as confirmed by the court’s decision today [Wednesday] to halt work on this aging oil pipeline in Santa Barbara. 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."
