WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Chris Wright has ordered a Houston-based energy company to resume offshore drilling operations in California waters that have been suspended since a major oil spill nearly a decade ago, utilizing emergency federal authority through the Defense Production Act.
The directive targets Sable Offshore Corp.’s Santa Ynez operations near Santa Barbara, which Wright says are essential for preventing energy supply shortages. The complex encompasses three offshore drilling platforms in federal waters, connecting pipelines both offshore and onshore, plus the Las Flores Canyon Processing Facility. According to federal officials, the installation has the capacity to generate approximately 50,000 barrels daily and could substitute for roughly 1.5 million barrels of imported oil monthly.
“The Trump Administration remains committed to putting all Americans and their energy security first,” Wright said in a statement. “Unfortunately, some state leaders have not adhered to those same principles, with potentially disastrous consequences not just for their residents, but also our national security. Today’s order will strengthen America’s oil supply and restore a pipeline system vital to our national security and defense, ensuring that West Coast military installations have the reliable energy critical to military readiness.”
The action follows President Trump’s first-day executive order reversing his predecessor’s prohibition on new offshore drilling along America’s East and West coastlines. A federal judge had previously overturned former President Biden’s directive removing 625 million acres of federal waters from potential energy development.
California Governor Gavin Newsom strongly criticized the federal intervention.
“This is an attempt to illegally restart a pipeline whose operators are facing criminal charges and prohibited by multiple court orders from restarting,” Newsom said in a statement. “California will not stand by while the Trump administration attempts to sacrifice our coastal communities, our environment, and our $51 billion coastal economy. The Trump administration and Sable are defying multiple court orders, and we will see them back in court.”
California filed a lawsuit against the federal government last month challenging Washington’s approval of Sable’s pipeline restart plans. Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta argued that California maintains regulatory control over pipelines running through Santa Barbara and Kern counties, claiming federal officials “have no right to usurp California’s regulatory authority.”
