Sable Offshore announces it has restarted oil production in Santa Barbara County
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – Sable Offshore announced Monday that it restarted oil production in Santa Barbara County for portions of the Santa Ynez Unit on May 15 of this year.
According to Sable Offshore, oil from six wells on Platform Harmony is flowing to the Los Flores Pipeline System at a rate of 6,000 barrels of oil per day.
By June of this year, the Houston-based company expects to fill the approximately 540,000 barrels of crude oil storage available at the Las Flores Canyon facility and resume the sale of oil by July of 2025.
Seven of the eight sections of the onshore pipeline system were successfully hydrotested and about 30 percent of the 32 producing wells at Platform Harmony have been tested as of Sunday, May 18 shared Sable Offshore in a press release Monday.
The company explained it expects to initiate production from an additional 44 wells on Platform Heritage by July of 2025 and 26 wells on Platform Hondo by August of 2025.
In response to Your News Channel's inquires about still outstanding requirements with state regulators before restarting the entire Santa Ynez Unit, the Office of State Fire Marshal issued the following statement:
"Today’s announcement from Sable is related to a restart of the offshore section of pipeline not subject to OSFM’s [Office of State Fire Marshal] authority. For the OSFM-regulated segments of the lines, there remain a number of conditions that must be met prior to authorization of restart. This includes, but is not limited to, repair work, hydrotesting of the lines, and a submission and OSFM approval of a pipeline startup plan."
In February of 2024, ExxonMobil sold existing infrastructure to produce oil in Santa Barbara County which included 114 wells, three offshore platforms, and an onshore oil and gas processing facility at Las Flores Canyon collectively called the Santa Ynez Unit to Sable Offshore.
The image below is an informational slide from an investor presentation by Sable Offshore and provided to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which shows the oil production infrastructure that makes up the Santa Ynez Unit.
"SOC [Sable Offshore] is proud to have safely and responsibly achieved first production at the Santa Ynez Unit," stated Jim Flores, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Monday. "The impressive well tests from Platform Harmony confirm the prolific nature of the Santa Ynez Unit reservoir after being dormant for ten years. SOC is excited about our development plan and prospects for the future. This milestone achievement is a result of a tremendous amount of effort from all of Sable’s employees, contractors, Board of Directors, stakeholders, and suppliers. We are very grateful for the cooperation and partnership from our local community and regulatory bodies as we seek to provide energy security to the State of California."
The image below, courtesy of Sable Offshore, shows the updated guidance on oil production in Santa Barbara including expected production as more wells are included.
Last week, Your News Channel noted the outstanding pipeline repair work expected to be completed this month as well as the pending lawsuit over permit transfers to Sable Offshore filed against the County of Santa Barbara.
Of the 22 detected pipeline anomalies that still required repair work before oil can be transported east to Kern County, 18 are within Gaviota State Park, shown as the blue circles on the left side of the image below along Line 325a which is the green line.
Sable Offshore detailed that access to the four other outstanding repair sites along line 324 -formerly known as Line 901 which ruptured and caused the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill- were already granted by the Land Trust for the County of Santa Barbara.
"Announcing a restart 10 years to the day since this pipeline system smothered the coast in crude is a slap in the face to Californians who don’t want oil-coated pelicans and poisoned dolphins washing ashore again," said Miyoko Sakashita, Oceans Director at the Center for Biological Diversity Monday. "It’s alarming that no agency comprehensively looked at the environmental risks of restarting this aging, corroded pipeline, and that Sable steamrolled over orders to halt construction. We’ll keep working to protect the sensitive habitats, species and communities harmed by offshore oil drilling."
The stylized image below, courtesy of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, details the history of the Santa Ynez Unit.
