Overview
- Judge Donna Geck, in a Friday ruling, kept a 2025 state injunction in place and said the Defense Production Act order does not remove Sable’s duty to secure California approvals and notify the court.
- A May 22 hearing will consider whether Sable is in contempt for restarting oil flows in March under the federal directive.
- The Trump administration in March invoked the Defense Production Act, a law that lets Washington order companies to prioritize energy and materials for national defense, and directed Sable to ship oil through its Santa Ynez system.
- Sable says output is climbing and plans to bring the Hondo platform online in June 2026 with about 10,000 barrels per day, even as state court limits and enforcement actions remain in place.
- The lines have been shut since a 2015 rupture spilled about 450,000 gallons near Refugio State Beach, and California and environmental groups are also challenging the federal takeover in separate 9th Circuit cases.