Congressional delegates demand answers over federal regulator’s role in restarting oil production
Andrew Gillies
WASHINGTON D.C. (KEYT) – On Tuesday, members of California’s congressional delegation submitted a letter to the Secretary of the Interior and Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement regarding its claims about restarting oil production in Santa Barbara County.
Congressional members specifically asked what role the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) played in promoting potentially misleading statements from Sable Offshore or unreleased information regarding the restart of oil production at the Santa Ynez Unit.
The announcement came almost exactly ten years after the 2015 Refugion Oil Spill from a ruptured pipeline still being used for transportation of crude oil from offshore platforms which impacted 150 miles of California coastline and destroyed thousands of acres of shoreline habitats.
“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 of Sable Offshore in May. “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.”
Platform Harmony courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
“Sable was required to communicate with [California State Lands] Commission staff before initiating any oil flow through the offshore pipeline, even in this limited capacity,” noted the May 23 letter. “Any attempt to restart commercial operations at the SYU without final regulatory approvals may place the company in violation of its lease terms and jeopardize the status of Sable’s holdover lease.”
According to the state regulatory body, plans to restart production and the results of hydrotesting required by the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement were not relayed to the State Lands Commission, a requirement within leases 7163 and 4977 and something the Commission warned Sable Offshore about in a letter on May 9, just days before Sable’s announcement about restarting oil production at Platform Harmony.
“Before resuming oil pipeline operations, Lessee shall conduct oil emulsion pipeline inspections and adhere to reporting requirements, as described below,” stated Amended State Lands Commission Lease number 7163. “All inspections must strictly comply with the regulatory and industry best practices in place at the time of inspection, to facilitate a reliable assessment of the structural integrity of the pipeline and ensure compliance with prevailing environmental safety standards. Fulfilling each requirement is a mandatory prerequisite for restarting operations, as is Lessor’s receipt and approval of all testing results.”
Despite those warnings, on July 25, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement issued a statement celebrating the restart of oil production stating, “This is a significant achievement for the Interior Department and aligns with the Administration’s Energy Dominance initiative, as it successfully resumed production in just five months. With production now underway at Sable’s Platform Harmony, the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) continues to work with Sable to bring additional production online. Preproduction inspections for Platform Heritage are set to begin soon and will mark the second SYU platform to come online, targeting an October 2025 timeframe.”
“BSEE’s statements are confusing at best and deceptive at worst,” noted Tuesday’s letter from congressional leaders. “It is unclear whether the Trump administration bought into the company’s inaccurate statements or whether BSEE’s July 25 statement references different information entirely. BSEE’s July 25 statement also calls into question whether the Bureau had received accurate information from the company when the Bureau decided to issue 10 approvals for well modification permits for Sable in July.”
California Lt. Governor Kounalakis, who chairs the Commission concluded the May 23 letter warning, “The willful disregard for the directives of regulatory agencies does not engender trust or confidence in Sable’s willingness to serve as a responsible partner, and could weigh significantly into considerations on the future assignment of the SYU leases from Exxon to Sable…no new offshore oil and gas pipeline leases will be considered, including leases 7163 and 4997, which will expire on January 31, 2029 and December 31, 2028, respectively.”
According to Tuesday’s letter, Sable Offshore is facing class action lawsuits alleging that it had mislead investors in its May announcement about restarting production as well as various lawsuits alleging violations of the California Coastal Act that are still working their way through the courts system.
“Sable has consistently ignored California law, as confirmed by the court’s decision today [May, 28, 2025] to halt work on this aging oil pipeline in Santa Barbara,” said a spokesperson on behalf of the California Coastal Commission. “This fly-by-night oil company has repeatedly abused the public’s trust, racking up millions of dollars in fines and causing environmental damage along the treasured Gaviota Coast.”
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, from an informational slide in an investor presentation by Sable Offshore courtesy of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, shows all of the assets purchased by the Houston-based company from ExxonMobil in February of 2024, collectively referred to as the Santa Ynez Unit.
Tuesday’s letter concluded with a series of questions including what role the federal regulator played in efforts to restart oil production at the Santa Ynez Unit including the basis for its claims of already underway oil production and if the federal agency encouraged the company to disregard state-based regulators.
“The press release [issued by Sable Offshore on May 19] appears to mischaracterize the nature of recent activities, causing significant public confusion and raising questions regarding Sable’s intentions,” read the State Lands Commission’s letter issued days after the announcement. “[State Lands] Commission staff has informed me [Lt. Governor of California and Chair of the California State Lands Commission Eleni Kounalakis] that the limited volume oil flows are the result of well-testing procedures required by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement prior to restart. These activities do not constitute a resumption of commercial production or a full restart of the SYU [Santa Ynez Unit]. Characterizing testing activities as a restart of operations is not only misleading but also highly inappropriate – particularly given that Sable has not obtained the necessary regulatory approvals to fully resume operations at SYU.”
In response to Your News Channel’s inquiries to the U.S. Department of Interior, Senior Public Affairs Specialist Elizabeth Peace with the Office of Secretary of the Interior shared, “While we do not comment on congressional correspondence through the media, the Department of the Interior takes all correspondence from Congress seriously and carefully reviews each matter.”