Federal Court Dismisses Challenge to Sable Offshore Pipeline in California

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed the complaint in Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum on May 15 2026, one of several lawsuits seeking to block Sable Offshore Corp.’s restart of production at the Santa Ynez Unit offshore oil and gas project.

The Santa Ynez Unit lies in the Santa Barbara Channel and holds federal leases that have remained largely idle since a 2015 pipeline rupture. Sable Offshore acquired the assets in 2022 and has pursued permits to reactivate three platforms, the associated onshore processing facility at Las Flores Canyon, and a new 6.5-mile pipeline connecting the platforms to shore.

The dismissed case directly challenged federal approvals for that pipeline.

The dismissal shifts the project from active litigation in one venue to a narrower set of remaining challenges. Prior to the ruling the Center for Biological Diversity suit had blocked final federal permits required under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

With that complaint removed Sable can now seek to advance the remaining federal and state approvals on a faster timeline. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the California State Lands Commission must still issue or affirm permits before any restart date.

Downstream the decision triggers a 30-day window for the Center for Biological Diversity to file an appeal in the Ninth Circuit. If no appeal is filed or if the dismissal is upheld Sable can finalize outstanding environmental reviews and schedule pipeline construction.

Resumption of production would restore output from a unit that once produced more than 20,000 barrels of oil per day. The restart also requires the company to meet updated pipeline safety standards set by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration following the 2015 spill.

This is the first major legal victory for Sable Offshore since it purchased the Santa Ynez assets four years ago. The project has faced separate suits in other California federal courts that remain pending. Congress has not passed legislation altering the underlying federal leases since the original 1968 sale.