{"id":580557,"date":"2026-04-12T22:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T22:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/580557\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T22:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T22:56:15","slug":"santa-ynez-oil-refinery-roars-back-pumping-60000-barrels-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/580557\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Ynez oil refinery roars back, pumping 60,000 barrels a day"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Californians face soaring prices at the gas pump, the newly re-opened Santa Ynez Pipeline<\/a> is now churning out 60,000 barrels of oil a day.<\/p>\n

During an exclusive visit to the newly reopened platforms, where oil is once again flowing through onshore pipelines in Santa Barbara following a Trump executive order<\/a>, The\u00a0California Post\u00a0sat down with the facility\u2019s executive, who offered a pointed but measured response to the Democrat outcry at the decision, which is still facing legal action to shut it down again. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a perfect, safe restart of the pipeline,\u201d J. Caldwell Flores, president and COO of\u00a0Sable Offshore Corp., told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognize we\u2019re providing a necessary service to California and the country as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0One of the biggest hurdles is that the reopening is caught in legal battles between the state and federal government. Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/p>\n

About 100 new jobs have already been created, and an additional 200 are expected once all three platforms are fully operational, according to Sable. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s also projected to generate an estimated $5 million in annual tax revenue, which the state certainly needs. <\/p>\n

The helicopter tour was a brief ten-minute flight from the Las Flores Canyon onshore base to the Harmony platform. <\/p>\n

On board were two pilots, six passengers, and a Post journalist.<\/p>\n

The platform typically hosts about 35 crew members at a time on two-week shifts. There are three platforms \u2013 Hondo, Harmony, and Heritage \u2013 all located in federal waters off the Santa Barbara coast.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Vince Fong, whose district includes some of the state\u2019s richest oil reserves, was also part of the tour.<\/p>\n

Flores claimed their new safety standards are so rigorous that even the state\u2019s own fire officers lauded them. Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/p>\n

Fong was far more scathing in his critique of Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s oil policies, and hailed the refinery as a critical step toward lowering fuel costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s American oil, on American soil,\u201d Fong said, as he watched the platforms in action.<\/p>\n

Sable\u2019s nearly 60,000 barrels per day may be small compared to U.S. consumption of about 20 million barrels, but it\u2019s significant for California. <\/p>\n

The state\u2019s oil production has fallen by about 75% since <\/a>its peak in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

The Santa Ynez pipeline restart \u201cmarks a 15% increase in California\u2019s in-state oil production, which will replace almost 1.5 million barrels of foreign crude oil each month,\u201d according to the Department of Energy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Texas-based\u00a0Sable Offshore Corp.<\/a>\u00a0resumed transporting oil through Santa Barbara County, California, in mid-March 2026. Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/p>\n

Aerial view of the Sable Offshore\u2019s Las Flores Canyon processing facility. Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more production. Look at California\u2019s energy crisis right now \u2013 it\u2019s because of bad policies,\u201d Fong said, taking aim at Newsom.<\/p>\n

\u201cGavin Newsom has restricted domestic supply of oil and gas. He\u2019s made California more dependent on foreign oil. He\u2019s imposed taxes and fees and mandates that make California gasoline more expensive.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

California has the highest gas tax <\/a>in the U.S. at\u00a061.2 cents per gallon for the state excise tax. <\/p>\n

When including federal taxes, sales taxes, and fees, the burden on California drivers is about 90 cents per gallon.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Rep. Vince Fong toured the Santa Ynez Unit, both the onshore facility and off-shore platforms. Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/p>\n

Flores agreed, adding that the production from the refinery will fill a much-needed gap and ease prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be some impact on that,\u201d Flores said. \u201cIt\u2019s not perfect to quantify beyond the fact that we will be responsible for $6 million cars worth of fuel each month. That\u2019s probably the best way to look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sable\u2019s infrastructure in Santa Barbara had been closed following the 2015 Refugio Beach oil spill<\/a>, caused by a ruptured, heavily corroded pipeline that released over 120,000 gallons of crude oil.<\/p>\n

The operation was shuttered for over a decade due to environmental damage, legal injunctions, and failure to obtain necessary safety permits before recently attempting to resume operations under federal emergency orders.<\/p>\n

The helicopter tour was a brief ten-minute flight from the Las Flores Canyon onshore base to the Harmony platform. Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/p>\n

In May 2025, oil from six Platform Harmony wells began flowing to Las Flores Canyon for storage pending approval to restart the onshore pipeline. <\/p>\n

On March 13, Trump\u00a0issued an executive order directing use of the Defense Production Act to authorize Sable Offshore to resume operations in the Santa Barbara Channel, citing national security and energy supply concerns. <\/p>\n

On March 14, hydrocarbon transport resumed from Las Flores Canyon to Pentland, and oil sales began on March 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia is really stuck on its own, and that\u2019s where we land in critical infrastructure from a national security standpoint, because there are about 50 air bases, naval bases, and army bases on the West Coast that are supplied directly by California domestic production,\u201d Flores said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing dependent on foreign imports that may not show up, as we\u2019ve seen in the last month, is not a good national security posture at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the lawsuit is ongoing, oil giant Chevron is already purchasing Sable\u2019s oil. From the tour of both the onshore and offshore refinery, production seems to be going full steam ahead, with Flores noting that the company has new targets to look forward to. Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cFor every barrel produced, it\u2019s replacing a barrel of oil imported into California from a foreign country,\u201d Fong added. <\/p>\n

\u201cGavin Newsom has destroyed production in Southern California.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, a spokesperson for Newsom offered: \u201cFor the amount of money Congressman Fong accepts from the fossil fuel industry, it\u2019s surprising that he doesn\u2019t seem to understand basic economics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSince oil trades at a worldwide price, American crude sells to the highest bidder, not at a discount for American consumers.\u201d <\/p>\n

The federal government also lauded Sable, saying it cares \u201cabout Californians even if failed state leaders don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPHMSA is doing its part to ensure this pipeline is operating safely so Sable Offshore Corp. can continue unleashing American energy and drive down prices at the pump,\u201d Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, which oversees the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is common sense. California is rich in energy resources, but nonsensical politicians keep them dependent on foreign oil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips 66 and Valero are winding down operations in California. <\/a>The Bakersfield Phillips 66 refinery closed in December 2025, and\u00a0Benicia\u2019s Valero facility is set to shut end of this month. <\/p>\n

Critics say Newsom\u2019s strict environmental rules \u2013 including a 2023 refinery price-cap law \u2013 have accelerated closures and boosted reliance on imported oil.<\/p>\n

\u201cGavin Newsom needs to look in the mirror when we talk about the energy crisis in California,\u201d Fong said. \u201cIf he had any common sense, he would have allowed Sable to move forward without the executive order, without the use of the Defense Production Act. But because of his incompetence, President Trump had to intervene and take action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vince Fong, whose district sits on top of some of the largest oil reserves in the state, told the Post that California\u2019s policies have significantly constrained production.
Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/p>\n

The governor has maintained that rising gas prices are due to Trump\u2019s war-related actions in Iran, which blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for the world\u2019s oil supply. California was one of the worst-hit states as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a Trump energy crisis, not a California one. Thanks to Donald Trump\u2019s ill-prepared war on Iran, Americans are paying a growing $10 billion more on gasoline since the beginning of the conflict,\u201d a spokesperson said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Californians face soaring prices at the gas pump, the newly re-opened Santa Ynez Pipeline is now churning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,2356,12,106458,2013,3310,16228,18633,194],"class_list":{"0":"post-580557","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-drilling","12":"tag-gavin-newsom","13":"tag-oil","14":"tag-oil-spills","15":"tag-santa-barbara","16":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}