WASHINGTON, March 6, 2026, 06:00 EST
The Trump administration is considering emergency powers to help Sable Offshore Corp overcome California permitting obstacles that have kept its oil off the market, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Thursday. Shares of the Houston-based company closed up 37.3% at $13.85. 1
For Sable, the stakes are immediate. The company said last week that even after restarting production at the Santa Ynez Unit in May 2025, it still has not resumed commercial oil sales and is storing crude at Las Flores Canyon while it waits for pipeline or tanker access. It ended 2025 with $921.6 million of short-term debt and $97.7 million in cash. 2
A Santa Barbara County court denied Sable’s bid on Feb. 27 to reconsider and dissolve or modify a preliminary injunction. The order keeps the Las Flores pipelines blocked until the company shows it has the approvals and permits needed for a restart. 3
Burgum said use of the Defense Production Act was “absolutely” under consideration. The Cold War-era law lets Washington direct domestic industry, and a March 3 Justice Department opinion said a DPA order could preempt conflicting state rules and even override penalties under a contrary court settlement governing the pipelines. 1
That opinion is not the order itself. Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne wrote that a DPA order would shield Sable from penalties, but there was “no fixed timeline” for one to be issued, if at all. Jefferies kept a Buy rating and a $28 price target. 4
Benchmark struck a cooler note. It downgraded Sable to Hold on Thursday, while summaries of the note showed no change to its price target. 5
The dispute is already in the federal courts. California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Trump administration in January after federal regulators classified Sable’s onshore lines as interstate pipelines, saying Washington had improperly tried to bypass state oversight. 6
Sable is also pursuing an offshore storage and treating vessel, essentially a ship-based system that could store and move crude by shuttle tanker if the onshore line stays shut. The company said there was no assurance the approvals needed to restart sales would be obtained. 2
That is the risk. No DPA order has been issued, the injunction remains in place, and Sable still needs a workable path to move crude out of storage and to market. 4
Sable bought the Santa Ynez assets from Exxon Mobil and has tied its future to three platforms off Santa Barbara that were shut after a 2015 spill. For now, the oil is still going into tanks, not to market. 7
