Sable Offshore’s stock prices have yo-yoed as the oil company navigates regulatory hurdles in its attempt to restart the 122-mile Las Flores Pipeline System. After a recent nosedive, Sable’s stock was given a 15 percent boost seemingly thanks to a social media post from the Trump Administration.
In May, Sable stock hit a high of $33.02 per share and plummeted to a low of $11.81 by October 17. However, Energy Secretary Chris Wright could be credited with nudging it back up to $12.79 on October 20, following a post on X saying that California Governor Gavin Newsom “is blocking oil production off California’s coast from reaching their own refineries, driving gasoline prices even higher for Californians.” (The stock has dipped slightly since then, closing at $12.70 on October 26.)
Wright was likely referring to the state’s restrictions on Sable’s restart of its onshore pipeline, which it bought from ExxonMobil in 2024. Sable intends to use the pipeline to transport crude oil from its offshore platforms and Las Flores Canyon processing plant in Santa Barbara County to facilities in Kern County.
To use that pipeline — which ruptured in 2015 under former owner Plains All American Pipeline and caused one of the worst oil spills in California history — Sable needed to excavate portions of the Gaviota Coast to complete repairs on the corroded equipment. That repair work led to pushback and lawsuits from both the state and environmental organizations, as well as criminal charges from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney and California’s attorney general. Two weeks ago, Judge Thomas Anderle ruled in favor of the state that Sable had no authority to complete the repairs, since it did not obtain permits for the work. Anderle also upheld a preliminary injunction halting any future repair work unless it obtained said permits.
Multiple environmental organizations also signed onto a letter to the county last week urging the Planning and Development department to direct Sable to cease all activities related to the offshore platforms, onshore processing facility, and the pipeline until the board of supervisors determines whether to transfer the permits from the facilities’ former operator, ExxonMobil, to Sable. The Board is scheduled to vote on the issue on November 4.
Wright added that oil production will “have to be shipped elsewhere, lowering gas prices for other areas — just not in California! This is the opposite of common sense.” Sable has said that it would pursue offshore treatment and transportation of the oil in federal waters to circumvent state regulations if it is unable to restart the pipeline.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has fist-bumped Sable and given California the finger. On May 19, the 10th anniversary of the 2015 oil spill, Sable proclaimed it had completed the necessary pipeline repairs and had begun pumping its crude to Las Flores Canyon. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement also put out a press release in July echoing that Sable had restarted oil production at the offshore Santa Ynez Unit, calling it a “significant achievement.” However, Sable’s claims were rebutted by California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, which landed Sable in hot water with both the state and investors, who called the announcement a lie to inflate Sable’s rocky stock prices.
Sable denies this allegation. The company has vowed that it will continue to fight against the state’s restrictions, and promised to appeal Judge Anderle’s ruling. In a statement to the Pacific Coast Business Times, Lee Danielson, Sable’s director of governmental affairs, said Sable is pleased with the administration’s support. “It’s not like we don’t have the product and we don’t have the market,” he told the Business Times. “We’ve got both. It’s just a question of how we’re going to get it to the market.”
And with the Trump administration’s reported plan to open up federal waters off the California coast to offshore oil drilling, federal support likely won’t be limited to social media.
