Sable Offshore fined $1.45 million, allowed to continue pipeline operations

Sable Offshore

24/08/2026 12:20

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Sable Offshore SOC.N said on Monday a U.S. judge fined the oil and gas producer $1.45 million for violating a pipeline consent decree, but declined California's request to halt operations of its Santa Ynez Pipeline System.
The rulings allow Sable to continue working to restart and expand its Santa Ynez project, which it has been trying to revive since a 2015 pipeline spill.

Here are more details: 
The court found Sable violated the 2020 consent decree by restarting pipeline operations without authorization from California's state fire marshal.
The judge ruled the company was no longer in violation after the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration approved its restart plan.
It restarted production from one of the project's offshore platforms last year, nearly a decade after operations were halted following a 2015 oil spill under former owner ExxonMobil XOM.N. 
In a separate case, the judge denied California's bid to block a federal Defense Production Act order supporting Sable's pipeline operations and ruled that the state's Department of Parks and Recreation could not take legal action to prevent Sable from complying.
California has appealed the decision denying its request for a preliminary injunction, while another defendant appealed a related declaratory judgment.

 (Reporting by Varun Sahay in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
 ((Varun.Sahay@thomsonreuters.com;))