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Posts Tagged ‘Sable Offshore’

Post Mid-Term offshore energy thoughts

Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on November 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Sable stock closed yesterday (11/4) at only $1.98/share, down 20% on the day.

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” ~ John F. Kennedy

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August OCS oil production: Gulf remained strong, Pacific unchanged after downward revision for July

Posted in California, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , on November 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

2026 would be another record production year for the Gulf, were it not for Isaias. It may still be close.

Sable is the dominant producer in the Pacific. More on their production.

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Commerce vs. Coastal Commission – NOAA’s draft review includes Sable recommendation

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , on October 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

According to the LA Times and other reporting, the Dept. of Commerce (NOAA) 92-page draft review of California’s federally approved (1978) Coastal Management Program finds:

  • A “pattern of jurisdictional and regulatory overreach.”
  • “Unjustified hostility and political bias against offshore drilling opportunities, oil and gas projects broadly, and SpaceX’s launch activities.”

Among the corrective actions specified:

  • Meeting with SpaceX to discuss concerns about political bias and productive next steps.
  • Discussions with Sable Offshore Corp. regarding regulatory burden/overreach related to restarting offshore operations off the Santa Barbara coast.
  • Issuance of an official statement (by January, per reports) pledging that California will not categorically oppose initiatives related to certain industries (e.g., oil and gas) or activities (e.g., offshore drilling).

Future federal funding for the state’s coastal management program is described as suspended “unless and until the identified deficiencies are satisfactorily addressed.” State agencies were given a response deadline (initially around mid-November 2026; extension requested).

Legal, political, and administrative fireworks are sure to follow!

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More suspense for Sable watchers – 9th Circuit decision on Sable pipeline restart will be delayed by months.

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on October 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has not yet ruled on the merits of the challenge to PHMSA’s assertion of exclusive Federal jurisdiction over Sable Offshore Corp.’s Las Flores (Santa Ynez) pipeline segments (CA-324 and CA-325) or related restart approvals. A three-judge panel ordered additional briefing after a status conference, and a decision is expected to take months.

The 9th Circuit panel held a video status conference on 10/5/2026, and consolidated petitions from the Environmental Defense Center (and other groups) and the State of California. The panel ordered further briefing rather than issuing an immediate decision on the core jurisdictional question—whether the onshore pipeline segments engage in “interstate commerce” under the Pipeline Safety Act (making them subject to exclusive PHMSA authority rather than California’s Office of the State Fire Marshal).

Concise background summary from Grok: PHMSA reclassified the pipelines as interstate in late 2025 (asserting jurisdiction because they transport crude from Outer Continental Shelf platforms through California to a Kern County terminal, with arguments that onshore processing does not break the flow of interstate commerce). This enabled restart approvals and special permits (initially emergency, later a longer-term one) that environmental groups and California challenge as unlawful, preemptive of state authority, and deficient under the Pipeline Safety Act, NEPA, and ESA. Sable restarted operations earlier in 2026 amid related litigation (including Defense Production Act issues and consent-decree matters in district court). The Ninth Circuit cases are Environmental Defense Center et al. v. PHMSA (No. 25-8059) and the consolidated California petition (originally No. 26-508 / related Nos.).

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Sable production update and related news

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on October 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Sable’s update includes production and sales information, but nothing about the pipeline anomalies. Summary:

  • Platform Hondo modernization and operational commissioning are complete. (Hondo is the last of the 3 platforms to come online.)
  • Sable anticipates Federal (MMA) approval of the Platform Hondo instrumentation, control, and safety commissioning this month.
  • Each of Hondo’s 9 perforation additions (Perf Adds) are expected to add ~600 barrels of oil per day to the base well production at a cost of approximately $800,000 per operation.
  • Completing the Los Flores Canyon (LFC) operational and facility upgrades ahead of the restart of Platform Hondo is expected to allow the flow of all SYU wells, maintain continuous operations and reduce downtime in Q4 2026.
  • Sable’s preliminary estimate of oil sales during the months of July and August is approximately 32 thousand gross barrels of oil per day averaged over the two months, with September oil sales volumes expected to be approximately 34 thousand gross barrels of oil per day.
  • Sable is working with midstream and downstream partners to alleviate third party sales constraints experienced in the second half of August and September 2026. (This is presumably why July/Aug sales were lower than previously forecast.)
  • Nominations to Sable’s crude purchaser are expected to increase to an average of 38 thousand gross barrels of oil per day in October 2026. An October 2026 estimated exit rate of approximately 45 thousand bopd prior to the expected addition of Hondo volumes.
  • Sable expects increasing oil sales rates after this month.

Also Sable related:

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Santa Ynez Unit pipeline anomalies

Posted in California, pipelines, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2026| 2 Comments »

Inline inspections identified anomalies at multiple points in Segment 324 of Sable’s onshore pipeline. Sable is conducting validation digs.(Noozhawk image).

Sable Offshore has asked Santa Barbara County for approval to conduct exploratory digs to check anomalies at seven points along onshore Segment 324 of the Santa Ynez Unit pipeline system. This 10.86 mile segment runs from the Los Flores Canyon Processing Facility to the Gaviota Pump Station (map below).

According to the Emergency Special Permit issued by PHMSA, Sable is required to conduct in-line inspections (ILIs) with metal loss tools every 6 months for the first 2 years of operation.

Where metal loss is identified, immediate repair is required if the remaining strength of pipe shows a predicted failure pressure <1.39 times the maximum operating pressure (MOP).

Where direct field examinations indicate pipe wall loss of 40% or more, permanent repairs are required.

Comments:

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Comments on brief supporting California’s challenge to the use of the DPA to restart SYU production

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on September 14, 2026| 2 Comments »

Twenty Members of Congress (17 from California) filed the attached amicus brief in support of California’s challenge to the use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to facilitate the restart of production at the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) in the Santa Barbara Channel.

Per their filing:

“This case is not about national defense. It is about a heavily leveraged, crude oil company asking the President to transform the DPA from a statute designed to“assure the availability of domestic energy supplies for national defense needs,” 50 U.S.C. § 4502(a)(5), into a corporate rescue operation for political allies; a rescue that advances the Administration’s political preference for fossil-fuel development at the expense of all other concerns. The Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) March 13, 2026 order (the “Wright Order”) comes nowhere close to identifying a need for Sable crude oil or pipelines in the Order’s generalized invocation of California’s military presence and increased reliance on foreign crude.”

Comments:

  • The brief includes no new arguments or information.
  • Is it not disingenuous to raise concerns about Sable’s financing when these critics and their allies spent a decade blocking Exxon, one of the world’s strongest companies, from restarting SYU production? Exxon’s frustration led to the ownership transfer to Sable, even though Exxon could still be held liable for some obligations, most notably decommissioning.
  • Given the conflict-driven turmoil in the energy markets and the risk of shortages affecting military operations, how is it a stretch to issue a DPA order directing the restart of an important onshore pipeline?
  • A Federal judge for the Central District of California has already opined that the DPA is a “significant statutory grant of authority to the executive, giving the President substantial discretionary power to compel private industry, allocate resources, and incentivize domestic production for national defense.”
  • With oil prices soaring, this is a bad time to attempt to halt a 20+% increase in California oil production.
us_dis_cacd_2_26cv3396_d31306472e4249_notice_of_motion_and_motion_to_file_amicus_brief_iDownload

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EIA raises the Gulf’s all-time monthly production record (April 2026) to 2.123 million bopd! Sable effect evident in the Pacific.

Posted in California, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , on September 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Raising the bar! The EIA’s August data release (delayed until 9/2) upped the Gulf’s all-time monthly production record (April 2026) by 14,000 bopd to 2,123,000 bopd. June production settled in just below the 2 million bopd mark.

Meanwhile, Pacific production has tripled this year reflecting the Sable SYU effect. Note that Sable reported Santa Ynez Unit production of 38,000 bopd in July and 42,000 bopd for the first week in August. This should push total Pacific production for July and August to over 50,000 bopd.

EIA explains (sort of) the delay in their June data release (only 2 days late, but enough to trigger a few conspiracy theories).

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Big win for Sable!

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , on August 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Sable Offshore Corp. may use an emergency restart order from Energy Secretary Chris Wright as legal authority to continue transporting Santa Ynez Unit production through the onshore pipeline system.

Judge Stephen V. Wilson said the Defense Production Act (DPA) is a “significant statutory grant of authority to the executive, giving the President substantial discretionary power to compel private industry, allocate resources, and incentivize domestic production for national defense.”

The opinion also granted the Trump administration’s request to modify a federal consent decree entered in 2020 which governs the restart of the Las Flores pipeline system.

The order removes the California Office of the State Fire Marshal as the primary agency responsible for Sable’s compliance with the oil spill consent decree, and substitutes the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Here is the 45 page decision.

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Informative production and sales update from Sable Offshore

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on August 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Excerpts from Sable’s quarterly report:

Production

  • An average of approximately 39 wells were online throughout the month of June 2026, representing a 50% increase over approximately 26 wells online on average in April 2026.
  • In July 2026, an average of approximately 47 wells at Platforms Harmony and Heritage were online, producing an average of approximately 721 gross barrels of oil per day per well. Sable expects to bring all 77 production wells on these two platforms online during the third quarter of 2026 and expects Platform Hondo to come online in September 2026.
  • Wireline campaign for Perforation Additions (“Perf Adds”) and producing well optimization at Platform Harmony commenced in August 2026.
  • Five completed Perf Adds forecasted to produce an incremental 600 estimated gross barrels of oil per day, each, are expected to come online at Platform Hondo along with the restart of the platform in September 2026.
  • An additional four Perf Adds at Platform Hondo forecasted to produce an incremental estimated 600 gross barrels of oil per day are planned for completion and to be brought online in early Q4 2026.

Sales

  • July 2026 preliminary oil sales estimate of approximately 38,000 gross barrels of oil per day. August 2026 oil sales average to date is approximately 42,000 gross barrels of oil per day through August 9th.
  • Due to the California regulatory environment, local refineries were not able to plan in advance for SYU first sales and ultimately were forced to displace various imported cargos in the second quarter. As a result, Sable incurred $18.5 million of non-recurring demurrage charges throughout the quarter, recognized in operational expenses.
  • The sudden supply influx of Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (“Pacific OCS”) crude has forced refiners to temporarily limit throughput of Pacific OCS crude and charge quality deducts for sulfur content and other items.
  • Starting in July 2026, Sable was temporarily constrained to a maximum of 40,000 average gross barrels of oil per day of oil sales throughput by downstream partners. We expect this short-term constraint to be alleviated starting in the back half of August.
  • California refineries are expected to adjust their crude oil supply slate starting in September 2026 to begin accepting more Pacific OCS barrels from the SYU and less imported barrels, alleviating the SYU throughput constraint altogether.
  • Sable is also in active negotiations to implement waterborne crude oil marketing solutions from existing marine terminals in the Los Angeles area in the near-term in order to improve marketing optionality.
  • Additionally, the pending acquisition of the Crimson Utilities (San Pablo Bay Pipeline) pipeline network by a third party could provide further relief and marketing optionality to California oil producers with access to the San Francisco refinery market once that pipeline potentially restarts operations.

A detailed regulatory and legal update can be found beginning on p. 13 of the Quarterly Report.

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