WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Friday invoked the Defense Production Act to direct a Texas oil and gas company to resume operations in Southern California waters damaged by a 2015 oil spill.
The restoration of Sable Offshore Corp.’s Santa Ynez plant and pipeline near Santa Barbara is intended to address the risk of supply disruptions, according to a department news release. The installation includes three drilling rigs located in federal waters, offshore and onshore pipelines and the Las Flores Canyon processing facility. The facility, which can produce about 50,000 barrels of oil per day, will replace nearly 1.5 million barrels of foreign crude oil each month, officials said.
“The Trump administration remains committed to putting all Americans and their energy security first,” Wright said in a statement. “Unfortunately, some nation’s leaders have failed to adhere to these same principles, with potentially catastrophic consequences not only for their residents, but also for our national security. Today’s order will strengthen America’s oil supply, restore pipeline systems critical to our national security and defense, and ensure that West Coast military installations have reliable energy sources critical to military readiness.”
On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order overturning former President Joe Biden’s ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts. A federal court later rejected Biden’s order to withdraw 625 million acres of federal waters from oil development.
California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the move.
“This is an illegal attempt to restart a pipeline whose operator faces criminal charges and is barred from restarting by multiple court orders,” Newsom said in a statement. “California will not stand idly by while the Trump Administration seeks to sacrifice our coastal communities, environment and $51 billion coastal economy. The Trump Administration and Thybulle are flouting multiple court orders, and we will see them in court.”
In January, California sued the federal government for approving Houston-based Sable Corp.’s plan to restart the Coastal Pipeline. Democratic state Attorney General Rob Bonta said at the time that the state was responsible for overseeing the pipeline through Santa Barbara and Kern counties and that the federal government “had no authority to usurp California’s regulatory authority.”