A Texas company that has been stuck in a yearslong regulatory skirmish with California regulators began transporting oil from offshore wells through a contested pipeline after the Trump administration stepped into the fray to overrule state officials on national security grounds.
What happened: Sable Offshore announced Monday that, since Saturday, it had been using the Santa Ynez pipeline system to move oil from its wells off the Santa Barbara coast to Pentland Station in Kern County, California. The company said it expects to begin sales of the crude by April 1.
In a statement, Sable CEO Jim Flores said that his company “is putting California consumers first by increasing domestic supply of crude oil into the California market” and “we look forward to continuing” in the wake of the Department of Energy action on Friday.
Why it matters: The announcement indicates that despite continued opposition from California officials, Sable sees Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s order that the company ship its product to market in the name of national defense as sufficient legal cover to ramp up operations.