On May 19, 2025, Sable Offshore Corp. announced that oil production from six wells on Platform Harmony in its Santa Ynez Unit had restarted on May 15, 2025. The company reported that it has been testing wells on Platform Harmony throughout May 2025 and that approximately 6,000 barrels a day are flowing through a pipeline to storage at its Las Flores Canyon oil processing plant. Sable expects to fill the Las Flores Canyon crude oil storage, which has capacity of approximately 540,000 barrels, by the middle of June 2025 and restart oil sales in July 2025.
The oil production at Platform Harmony is a key step in Sable’s plan to restart the Santa Ynez Unit. The Santa Ynez Unit consists of three offshore platforms located in federal waters and the onshore Las Flores Canyon facility. Sable expects to initiate production from the additional 44 wells on Platform Heritage in July 2025 and the additional 26 wells on Platform Hondo in August 2025.
Platform Harmony Testing and Pipeline Repairs
Sable reported that approximately 30% of the 32 producing wells at Platform Harmony have been tested as of May 18, 2025. The remaining wells on the platform are projected to be tested over the course of the next several days. The company stated in a release that the well tests “have performed consistently stronger than they did at the time of shut-in on May 19, 2015 when the SYU produced approximately 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.”
Sable also announced that, as of May 18, 2025, it has completed its “anomaly repair” on the onshore pipeline of the Las Flores Pipeline System. The company reported that it has successfully hydrotested seven of the eight sections of the onshore pipeline and will soon complete the final hydrotest.
Federal Policy
In January, President Donald Trump ordered that U.S. policy was to “encourage energy production and exploration on federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf.” In May, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) conducted an environmental assessment of Sable Offshore’s plans, the Santa Barbara Independent reported. The agencies performed the assessment to try to resolve a 2024 federal lawsuit alleging that BSEE failed to conduct “meaningful” environmental reviews and did not determine whether extending the leases was “in the national interest.”
Opposition
The restart of the Santa Ynez Unit comes despite ongoing legal and political opposition. The California Coast Commission has been the main state agency opposing Sable. In April, the California Coastal Commission voted to fine Sable Offshore Corporation a record $18 million for refusing to comply with its orders to stop work on the oil pipelines. The commission originally fined Sable Offshore $15 million but increased the fine after the company did not respond to notices of violation and two cease-and-desist orders.
Sable has argued that the Coastal Commission does not have the authority to stop work on the pipeline, as the work falls under the commission’s permits issued to the pipeline’s original owner. The company maintained that it was performing “repair and maintenance,” not building a new pipeline, and that it has the right to conduct repairs under contracts it acquired from ExxonMobil.
“The Coastal Commission is profoundly disappointed that Sable has refused to follow state law in its ongoing efforts to restart offshore oil production in Santa Barbara,” Coastal Commission Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Our agency continues to coordinate closely with the state Attorney General to determine the appropriate next steps.”
Update - May 28, 2025
On May 23, 2025, the California State Lands Commission sent Sable a letter clarifying that the oil from the Santa Ynez Unit was from well-testing procedures and not a “resumption of commercial production or a full restart” of the 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,” the Lands Commission wrote.