California oil giant Sable Offshore Corp is seeking more than $100 million in damages from Santa Barbara County, accusing officials of “withholding” permits during a legal battle over restarting oil production in the state.
In a statement, the company said that it is “actively pursuing financial damages, expected to be in excess of $100 million, from the County of Santa Barbara for unlawfully withholding the transfer of certain permits to Sable from the prior operator.”
The dispute goes back years and stems from the transfer of permits from Exxon to Sable, the company told The Post. Sable has accused the county of leaving it in limbo as it awaits permits it said Santa Barbara had authorized to be transferred.
The litigation is separate from Sable’s pending action against the California Coastal Commission related to restarting production at one of its facilities last year. In that case, the company said it was “pursuing damages of at least $347 million” from the commission the resumption of oil production at its Las Flores pipeline.
Last week, Judge Donna Geck of the Santa Barbara Superior Court upheld an injunction against the oil giant, blocking it from restarting pumping at its Santa Ynez offshore pipeline while handing a win to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Despite the injunction, Sable attorney Jeffrey Dintzer told The Post that the pipeline “is still operational, and we are continuing to pump crude through the Santa Ynez system pursuant to the order of [US Energy] Secretary Wright who is authorized by the president.”
In March, President Trump initiated the Defense Production Act to allow for the restarting of pumping off the Santa Barbara coast.
The pipeline was shuttered in 2015 after a spill resulted in thousands of barrels of crude leaking into the Pacific Ocean.
Oppponents furiously claimed that the order was “illegal” and that any restart needed approval by state regulators. They then sought the temporary injunction, granted in February.
Jim Flores, Sable’s chairman and CEO, said the company is “working tirelessly to provide American oil from American soil to consumers in California and the U.S. military and are proud to have produced over 1 million barrels from the Santa Ynez Unit to date.”
“We look forward to achieving our financial objectives as we continue to operate in a safe and reliable manner to the benefit of all of our stakeholders,” he added.
The Houston-based company said it was also coordinating with the federal government in “various legal matters to defend its vested rights to operate its assets and ensure compliance with certain federal mandates, including the Defense Production Act.”
“Sable is also actively pursuing damages and taking proactive legal action to curb state and county regulatory overreach,” the company said in a statement.
Despite the legal battles, oil has been flowing through the Santa Ynez pipeline and into California refineries.
The 40 wells currently online are producing an average of 750 gross barrels of oil per day per well, according to the company.
Once all 74 production wells on its two platforms are online, Sable expects the average production per well to be approximately 700 gross barrels of oil a day.
The company said once a third platform comes online next month and becomes fully operational, it is estimated to produce approximately 10,000 gross barrels of oil per day.
The California Coastal Commission declined to comment, while Santa Barbara County did not immediately return a request for comment.
