Santa Barbara Oil Platform Defies Legal Challenges: Drilling Operations Forge Ahead

Despite facing challenges, California’s oil production is on the rise, with Sable Offshore striving to maintain momentum in its pipeline restart efforts.

The company has announced an increase in output across its California operations, with new wells commencing production as of Monday. Additionally, a third platform is scheduled to become operational later this year.

As reported by Offshore Engineer, this development led to a 3.7% increase in the company’s share value during premarket trading.

This expansion follows last month’s reactivation of the oil pipeline network connecting the Santa Ynez offshore platforms to refineries in California—a move that has sparked a legal battle.

Last week, Judge Donna Geck of the Santa Barbara Superior Court upheld a state injunction, preventing the pipeline’s restart, marking a victory for Governor Gavin Newsom.

The oil company has pledged to contest the injunction in court next month, emphasizing that presidential approval for reopening had already been granted.

Despite the ongoing battle, production is already on the rise. Forty wells on Platform Harmony and Platform Heritage are now active, each churning out around 750 barrels of oil daily.

Once all 74 wells are operational, output is expected to average roughly 700 barrels per day per well, the outlet reported.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

And another boost is on the way, Platform Hondo is expected to begin production in June 2026, with output projected at about 10,000 barrels per day — lifting volumes from the Santa Ynez Unit.

Back in March, Trump signed an executive order to ​resume oil drilling operations off the Southern California coast, citing national energy security concerns.

The order invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, stemming from concerns of limited oil supply from the US war with Iran.

In response to the order, Sable Offshore resumed operations near Santa Barbara at its Santa Ynez offshore oil platform and pipeline.

The pipeline was shuttered in 2015 after a spill released thousands of barrels of crude into the Pacific Ocean.

Environmentalists and anti-Trump Democrats furiously claimed that Trump’s order was “illegal” and that any restart needed approval by state regulators. They sought the temporary injunction, granted in February.