California court dismisses challenge to Sable pipeline-linked oil operations

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California court dismisses oil challenge

Highlights

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum, upholding BOEM's April 2025 decision concerning Sable Offshore's Santa Ynez Unit.
Court found plaintiffs misapplied statutory provisions, stating their procedural injury claim was unsupported by the statute and not remediable by a court order.
Sable Offshore continues transporting about 30,000 barrels of oil per day, aiming to reach 60,000 as the legal challenge is removed and BOEM's position affirmed.

Court ruling backs BOEM decision

As reported by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California yesterday dismissed the complaint in Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum, one of several cases challenging Sable Offshore Corp.'s oil and gas operations at the Santa Ynez Unit in the Santa Barbara Channel.

In April 2025, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management determined that Sable did not need to revise its development and production plan for the unit under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The plaintiffs then sought a court order requiring the agency to mandate a revised plan, but the court ruled that their asserted procedural injury had no basis in the statute, was not traceable to BOEM's action, and could not be remedied by a court order.

The court also found that the plaintiffs relied on a statutory provision governing approval of a development and production plan, rather than revision of an existing plan. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division said the ruling follows the Supreme Court's instruction in Loper Bright to apply the best interpretation of statutes.

Implications for California energy flows

Sable Offshore is required to immediately resume petroleum transportation through the Santa Ynez Pipeline System under a Defense Production Act order issued by Energy Secretary Chris Wright on March 13. Since then, the unit is transporting about 30,000 barrels of oil per day to California and is expected to reach 60,000 barrels per day.

The ruling supports BOEM's earlier position and removes one legal challenge facing the offshore operation as output ramps up. Attorneys from the Environment and Natural Resources Division's Natural Resources Section handled the matter.

We previously reported on Abu Dhabi accelerating construction of a new West-East oil pipeline to Fujairah to expand export capacity and reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz. The project, expected to come online in 2027, is aimed at keeping crude exports moving despite severe restrictions and security risks affecting regional shipping and energy infrastructure.

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