WASHINGTON, March 6, 2026, 06:00 EST
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Thursday said the Trump administration is weighing emergency powers as a workaround for Sable Offshore Corp, aiming to sidestep California’s permitting snags that have blocked its oil output. The Houston-based firm’s stock surged 37.3% to end the day at $13.85.
Sable is feeling the pressure. Last week, the company said it brought the Santa Ynez Unit back online in May 2025, but commercial oil sales remain suspended. Crude keeps piling up at Las Flores Canyon, with no pipeline or tanker access in sight. Short-term debt stacked up to $921.6 million by the end of 2025, with cash reserves at $97.7 million.
Sable’s push to revisit the preliminary injunction hit a wall on Feb. 27, when a Santa Barbara County court refused to reconsider, dissolve, or change the order. For now, the Las Flores pipelines stay shut. The company still has to prove it holds every required approval and permit before it can move forward with a restart.
Burgum said the Defense Production Act is “absolutely” on the table. The decades-old law gives Washington power to steer domestic industry, and a Justice Department opinion from March 3 noted that a DPA directive could trump state regulations or wipe out penalties from any court settlement that clashes with pipeline operations. Bloomberg Law
The opinion isn’t the same as an order. Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne noted a DPA order would protect Sable from penalties, but there’s “no fixed timeline” for when—or if—one might come. Jefferies maintained its Buy rating and $28 price target. TipRanks
Benchmark pulled back a bit, downgrading Sable to Hold on Thursday. Notably, the price target stayed where it was, according to summaries of the note.
The fight is now in federal court. Back in January, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit against the Trump administration, after federal regulators labeled Sable’s onshore lines as interstate pipelines. Bonta argues Washington tried to sidestep state oversight.
Sable is working on an offshore storage and treating vessel—a floating unit that could handle crude and shuttle it away by tanker if the onshore pipeline remains closed. The company cautioned that there’s no guarantee it can secure the permits required to resume sales.
That’s the concern. There’s no DPA order on the table, the injunction stands, and Sable has yet to secure a viable way to get its crude out of storage and into the market.
Sable snapped up the Santa Ynez assets from Exxon Mobil, betting big on three platforms off Santa Barbara—idle since a 2015 spill. Right now, though, the oil’s not moving; it’s piling up in tanks instead of heading out to market.
