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Posts Tagged ‘Santa Ynez Unit’

“Almost Heaven” for lateral drilling!

Posted in California, drilling, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Russia, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“Country roads” take us to Moundsville, West Virginia where new records were set drilling a “postcard well.”

In addition to the records noted in the picture, these impressive company marks were achieved:

  • 24-hour footage record: 12,370 feet
  • daily footage record: 2,774 feet/day

The record US offshore lateral well is in the Santa Ynez Unit, which has been much discussed on this blog and elsewhere in light of Sable Offshore’s efforts to resume production. In 2010, Exxon drilled a well with a horizontal reach of 6 miles from Platform Heritage into the Sacate field (see the diagrams below).

The world’s longest horizontal reach well appears to be the O-14 well drilled by the Sakhalin-1 Consortium in the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia, in April 2015. This well had a horizontal reach of 14,129 meters (46,358 feet).

ADNOC, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, has the world record (2022) for the longest well (50,000′) in the Upper Zakum field. However, no horizontal reach distance is provided, so it is assumed that the Sakhalin well had the longer reach.

Artificial islands at Adnoc’s Upper Zakum field.Photo: Adnoc

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Sable shares plunge as judge bars restart of Santa Barbara pipeline

Posted in California, pipelines, Regulation, tagged , , on June 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

John Smith informs me that today (6/6/2025), a Santa Barbara Superior Court issued an order preventing the restart of the Santa Ynez Unit’s onshore pipeline pending Court resolution of the dispute.

Sable’s shares plunged 18% in response to the news.

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Judge issues preliminary injunction halting Sable’s pipeline work

Posted in California, energy policy, pipelines, Regulation, tagged , , , , on May 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »

For the reasons set forth herein, the application of the California Coastal Commission for issuance of a preliminary injunction is granted. No bond is required. The Commission shall present a written order for entry by the court.

The roller coaster ride continues. Sable Offshore’s stock price plunged in response to the latest order.

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Sable Offshore topped the charts yesterday

Posted in California, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , on May 20, 2025| 2 Comments »

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Sable restarts production!!!

Posted in California, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, tagged , , , , on May 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

05/19/2025

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)— Sable Offshore Corp. (“Sable,” or the “Company”)(NYSE: SOC) today announced that as of May 15, 2025, it has restarted production at the Santa Ynez Unit (“SYU”) and has begun flowing oil production to Las Flores Canyon (“LFC”). Additionally, with the completion of the Gaviota State Park anomaly repairs on the Las Flores Pipeline System (the “Onshore Pipeline”) on May 18, 2025, Sable has now completed its anomaly repair program on the Onshore Pipeline as specified by the Consent Decree, the governing document for the restart and operations of the Onshore Pipeline.

Seven of the eight sections of the Onshore Pipeline have been successfully hydrotested. Sable will complete the final hydrotest in order to meet the final operational condition to restart the Onshore Pipeline as outlined in the Consent Decree. Sable expects to fill the ~540,000 barrels of crude oil storage capacity at LFC by the middle of June 2025 and subsequently recommence oil sales in July 2025.

Production Restart

  • On May 15, 2025, Sable initiated the flow of oil production from six wells on Platform Harmony of the SYU to LFC at a rate of ~6,000 barrels of oil per day.
  • Sable has been testing wells on Platform Harmony throughout May 2025 and the well tests have performed consistently stronger than they did at the time of shut-in on May 19, 2015 when the SYU produced approximately 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
  • Approximately 30% of the 32 producing wells at Platform Harmony have been tested as of May 18, 2025 with the remaining Platform Harmony wells projected to be tested over the course of the next several days.
  • Sable expects to initiate production from the additional 44 wells on Platform Heritage and the additional 26 wells on Platform Hondo in July 2025 and August 2025, respectively.

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Sable Offshore Sues Santa Barbara County over Blocked Transfer Permit

Posted in California, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , on May 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

A good Nick Welsh, Santa Barbara Independent article has been brought to my attention by John Smith. Bonus points for the baseball analogy:

“In baseball, ties famously go to the baserunner, but in county government it’s forced a legal fight in the courts.”

“The oil company Sable Offshore is insisting that when the County Board of Supervisors voted 2-2 on whether or not to allow another oil company, Exxon, to transfer its permits to Sable, the tie goes to Sable.”

“Accordingly, Sable — much in the limelight recently — just filed a lawsuit against the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors in federal court to make that point. Joining Sable in this dispute is ExxonMobil, the oil giant that sold Sable its three offshore platforms, its 120-mile pipeline, and its onshore oil storage and processing facilities known as the Santa Ynez Unit two years ago.”

Because the Planning Commission had voted  3-1 to allow the transfer, Sable argues that the 2-2 Supervisors vote upholds the Planning Commission decision.

Never a dull moment in the Santa Ynez Unit restart doneybrook. More on the tie vote here and here.

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Sable clears another hurdle

Posted in California, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on May 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »

John Smith reports that Sable has cleared another significant hurdle in its attempt to restart production in the Santa Ynez Unit. The California DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION has determined that no permit is required for the pipeline anomaly digs in Gaviota State Park (see attached).

The reasons for the exemption are that the project consists of repairs to an existing facility with no expansion of use, and the footprint of the pipeline remains the same.

Maybe the SYU restart is not Mission Impossible after all.

Gaviota S.P. – Pacific Pipeline Anomalies 2025 NOEDownload

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John Smith comments on the Coastal Commission’s Staff Report on the Sable Cease and Desist Order

Posted in California, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on April 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »

BOE contributor John Smith has shared (attached) his highlighted version of the 89 page California Coastal Commission staff report recommending imposition of a $15 million fine. 

John finds it noteworthy that the report documents that Santa Barbara County did not concur with the CCC, and that the California State Lands Commission approved the span remediation work. John thinks this raises legitimate questions as to whether the CCC is overreaching in terms of asserting permitting authority for the repair and maintenance work. 

John thinks it will be interesting to see how the Courts rule on this and expects an appeal regardless of the outcome. He points to the Court ruling against the CCC on Pismo Beach offroading case as being pertinent to the Sable-CCC dispute. (“Is the Friends of Oceano Dunes court victory a good omen for Sable?“)

In particular, note the text John has highlighted in green. These issues will likely be central to the Court deliberations.

CCC Staff Report -$15 Million Penalty 032825Download

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BOE energy news update

Posted in California, CCS, climate, energy policy, natural gas, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on April 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Santa Ynez Unit items (thanks to John Smith for the links):

Cuts in carbon capture spending coming? These are cuts that both climate activists and skeptics can support.

In a peer reviewed paper, AI (Grok-3) debunks the man-made climate crisis narrative.

Doug Burgum: Hydraulic fracturing technology is “one of the reasons why the U.S. shale revolution is a miracle. But that miracle keeps on getting better and better. It’s the thing that has literally turned around the economy.” Posted here 15 years ago: Natural Gas Bonanza – Why Aren’t We Celebrating?

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SYU restart: Mission Impossible for Sable?

Posted in California, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , on April 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

It’s starting to look that way.

“The State Fire Marshal stated on February 25 — during a packed-house meeting at La Cumbre Junior High School — that he would not issue Sable authorization to restart production at the Santa Ynez Unit until all outstanding permit issues between Sable and the eight state agencies with oversight authority are resolved.“

Although Sable has a good defense against the Coastal Commission’s accusations, that statement by the Fire Marshal is ominous.

More bad news for Sable: The Center for Biological Diversity suit challenging the Federal government’s extension of the 16 Santa Ynez Unit leases is not going well. The government requested a voluntary remand of BSEE’s 2023 approval because “BSEE plans to reconsider its decision in light of Plaintiffs’ claims and conduct additional analysis, as warranted, under OCSLA and NEPA.”

In the attached decision, shared by John Smith, the judge denied the Federal government’s request. This does not bode well for the Federal government’s case going forward.

Court Denies BSEE Motion for Remand of SYU Lease extensions 032125Download

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