For the second time in six weeks, the county supervisors voted to deny Sable Offshore’s application to transfer the title and permits to operate from Exxon Mobil. Sable, a new Houston-based oil company, purchased three offshore oil platforms, a processing and storage plant, and a 125-mile pipeline in February 2024 and now need the transfer documents to legally begin operations.
A staff report stated that “Sable has amassed a significant track record of systemic non-compliance,” demonstrating “… a lack of diligence and a pattern … of failing to notify regulatory agencies” of its proposed work. The supervisors found that the company repeatedly failed to obtain authorization before beginning the much-contested repair work on the badly corroded pipeline that ruptured in May 2015, resulting in a major oil spill in the waters along the Gaviota Coast.
The staff report accused Sable of ignoring regulatory directives, failing to provide accurate records to regulating agencies. This pattern of outright contempt prompted the supervisors to conclude that Sable lacked the “skills and training necessary to operate the permitted facility in compliance with all applicable county codes.”…