The United States District Court for the Central District of California has ruled the federal government had the authority to order the reactivation of the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) and the oil project’s pipeline system.
California’s attorney-general had sued before the court on March 23 alleging the order constituted an executive overreach. Authorities in the state and the county of Santa Barbara want operator Sable Offshore Corp to settle penalties and damages, as well as implement remedies, in connection to a 2015 oil spill before any restart could be approved.
In granting the restart order March 13 the Department of Energy (DOE) under Secretary Chris Wright invoked the Defense Production Act and cited energy security risks amid the disruption of oil shipping via the Strait of Hormuz.
In announcing the litigation result Friday, the Justice Department claimed “a significant victory for President Trump’s efforts to unleash American energy”.
“Energy security is national security”, said Associate Attorney-General Stanley E. Woodward Jr.
“This ruling upholds decisive federal action to protect national security by restarting the flow of 50,000 gallons of oil per day when the stability of America’s energy supply is threatened”, added Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney-General Adam Gustafson.
The judgment defeats “state‑level barriers designed to obstruct federally mandated operations during a declared national energy emergency”, the Justice Department said. “The court’s decision ensures that sound federal energy policy – not California’s disruptive anti-energy measures – governs operation of this critical infrastructure”.
“The Santa Ynez Pipeline transports more than one million barrels of domestically produced crude oil per month from offshore wells into California – providing a reliable domestic supply to offset foreign imports and reinforcing the nation’s energy independence”, the department said.
“Its continued operation is also essential to maintaining stable fuel supplies for more than 32 U.S. military installations across the West Coast, supporting operational readiness and ensuring these facilities can meet critical national defense requirements”.
“The court held that the only agency with authority to oversee the safety of the pipeline is the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration”, the Justice Department added.
The office of Rob Bonta, California’s attorney-general, has yet to reply to Rigzone’s comment request.
Bonta’s office argued Sable had bypassed a so-called Consent Decree approved by the same court in 2020.
“The Consent Decree was adopted following the 2015 Refugio Beach oil spill, when a corroded segment of CA-324 ruptured and released hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil near Refugio State Beach outside Santa Barbara”, Bonta’s office said in an online statement March 13, announcing the lawsuit.
“The Consent Decree, entered by both state and federal agencies, resolved civil claims against the then-owner of the ruptured pipeline. In addition to penalties and damages totaling $60 million, it includes a number of prerequisites that must be met before any restart of the pipelines may be initiated.
“The Consent Decree expressly acknowledged and approved the State Fire Marshal’s role in reviewing and approving any planned restart of the onshore pipelines.
“Yet, following DOE’s order, Sable unlawfully restarted operations of the Las Flores Pipelines without State Fire Marshal approval, violating the Consent Decree as well as state law”.
SYU, then owned by Plains Pipeline LP, stopped production 2015 after the spill. Exxon Mobil Corp acquired the assets 2022 and sold them to Sable 2024.
Under Donald Trump’s second nonconsecutive term as president, Sable, whose production comes entirely from SYU, has restarted two of the development’s three production platforms: Harmony and Heritage. It said in its second quarter report August 10 platform Hondo would return to production next month.
In the Apri-June quarter Sable said it had averaged 723 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in production, though sales amounted to about 21,000 bopd. “Las Flores Canyon crude oil inventory grew 49 percent in the quarter from 212,390 to 316,495 barrels”, it said. “Crude oil in inventory as of August 9, 2026 was approximately 224,000 barrels”.
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