Sable Offshore Corp. is seeking damages of more than $347 million as compensation for the “unlawful delay of, and damages to, the restart of the Las Flores Pipeline System.” The company filed a motion to amend its February 2025 lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission to quantify monetary damages.
Sable began repair work on the pipeline in November 2024. The Commission issued its first cease and desist order to Sable that month and followed in February with a second cease-and-desist order for “unpermitted development in the Coastal Zone” associated with the Las Flores Pipelines.” In April, the California Coastal Commission fined Sable a record $18 million for refusing to comply with its orders to stop work on the oil pipelines.
Sable sued the Coastal Commission on the same day that the commission issued the second order. In the lawsuit, Sable 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. Sable maintained that it is performing “repair and maintenance,” not building a new pipeline, and that it has the right to conduct repairs under contracts it acquired from ExxonMobil.
Sable argues that the Notice of Violation and Cease and Desist Order are a “taking of [Sable’s] vested right to [own and] operate the Las Flores Pipelines and SYU Pipelines without prior compensation.” The lawsuit states that the Commission’s actions “unlawfully prevent [Sable’s] repair and maintenance activities along portions of the Pipelines.”
Declaratory Judgement on SB 237
In a separate legal matter, on September 29, 2025, Sable filed a declaratory judgement against California in Kern County asking the court to confirm that certain provisions of SB 237 do not apply to the Las Flores Pipeline System.
SB 237 streamlines approvals to drill up to 2,000 new oil wells a year in Kern County through 2036. The bill also increases certain regulatory requirements for pipelines and clarifies that a company must seek a new coastal development permit “for the repair, reactivation, and maintenance” of an idle oil and gas facility.