Jim Flores took home a $76 million compensation package in 2025, putting him in the top earner spot above the heads of fellow oil companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron.
Annie Mulligan
The highest-paid executive in Houston last year is a long-time energy industry leader with a private island.
Jim Flores, the chief executive of Sable Offshore, earned $76 million last year, even though his company sold no crude that year and posted a massive loss, according to securities filings.
Flores’ base salary fell to $1.3 million last year, compared with $1.7 million in 2024. But he received a $3.9 million bonus in 2025 and millions of shares of stock worth about $69 million.
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Flores’ Houston-based oil company has been in an intense political and environmental battle with California regulators and federal courts over oil wells it owns off the coast of California. But it started pumping oil again earlier this year, bringing in millions in revenue.
Flores and Sable spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Here’s what you should know about Flores:
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What is Sable?
Sable Offshore owns a cluster of offshore oil fields near Santa Barbara known as the Santa Ynez Unit. A 2015 leak from the pipeline – owned and operated at the time by Houston’s Exxon Mobil and Plains All American Pipeline – caused one of the worst oil spills in California’s history, dumping more than 140,000 gallons of oil and killing marine wildlife.
Sable purchased the oil fields in 2024 in a deal worth more than $800 million in cash and debt.
But California regulators and environmentalists repeatedly blocked Sable’s effort to restart production, arguing the company hadn’t shown they could properly repair and operate the pipeline without risking sensitive habitats.
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The company didn’t sell any crude in 2025 and reported a net loss of about $410.2 million.
That changed in March after the Trump administration ordered Sable to restart pipeline operations from the oil fields in order to relieve supply and price pressures stemming from the war in Iran. Sable sold around 40,000 barrels of oil a day between July and August of this year, according to the company’s second quarter filings.
“We are encouraged by the productivity of the wells,” Flores said in an August statement. “We look forward to working with our midstream and downstream partners to maximize the amount of domestic crude oil from the [Santa Ynez Unit] getting to market for the benefit of California consumers and the U.S. Military and its allies globally.”
How Flores’ compensation compares to other CEOs:
Flores’ $76 million compensation package puts him above other high-ranking energy sector executives in the Houston region.
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Darren Woods, chief executive officer for Exxon took home about $32 million in 2025. Chevron’s chief executive Mike Wirth was paid around $26.8 million.
From left; Darren Woods, Exxon Mobil Corp. Chairman and CEO gives a speech at the CERAWeek by S&P Global, Monday, March 7, 2022, in Houston., S&P Global Vice Chairman, Daniel Yergin, left, speaks with Chevron Corporation Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Wirth during a panel discussion at CERAWeek by S&P Global Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Houston.
Marie D. De Jesus / Houston Chronicle, Kirk Sides / Houston Chronicle
From left; Darren Woods, Exxon Mobil Corp. Chairman and CEO gives a speech at the CERAWeek by S&P Global, Monday, March 7, 2022, in Houston., S&P Global Vice Chairman, Daniel Yergin, left, speaks with Chevron Corporation Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Wirth during a panel discussion at CERAWeek by S&P Global Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Houston.
Marie D. De Jesus / Houston Chronicle, Kirk Sides / Houston Chronicle
Sable’s chief financial officer, Gregory Patrinely; president and Flores’ son, J. Caldwell Flores; and general counselor, Anthony Duenner, also made the list of highest-paid executives. All three executives earned about $18 million.
Flores’ has more than three decades of oil and gas experience
He started his energy career in Louisiana in 1992, co-founding an independent oil and gas company, Ocean Energy, in 1994 that operated in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa before it was sold to Houston’s newest oil giant, Devon Energy.
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He then took over Plains Exploration & Production in 2001 and in 2017 became CEO of privately owned Sable Permian Resources, a West Texas driller that filed for bankruptcy in 2020. Shortly thereafter, he founded Flame Acquisition Corporation, which became Sable Offshore in 2024.
Flores owns a private island in Louisiana’s marshes called Little Pecan.
Does Sable have ties to the Trump administration?
White House energy advisor Brittany Kelm joined Sable’s ranks as a policy executive in August after touting the administration’s efforts on behalf of the company.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum visited Sable’s facilities in California – with Wright wearing a personalized company shirt – and applauded the company’s easing of crude shortages along the west coast.
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In May, a group of California Democrats said they were launching an inquiry into “the company’s collaboration with the Trump administration.”
Sable did not respond to requests for comment.
In a June call with investors Flores said Sable was in constant communication with the administration and the Justice Department over their California assets and a potential partnership on a proposed west coast addition to the Strategic Petroleum Reserves.
“We really appreciate … the federal government’s support of all of our operations,” Flores said.