A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Sable Offshore Corp. can continue to pump oil through Santa Barbara County under an emergency order by the Trump administration.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that the Houston-based oil company could continue production through the Santa Ynez Unit under the Defense Production Act, and confirmed federal oversight over the pipeline.

Sable did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.

The company, which acquired the Santa Ynez Unit in 2024, officially restarted oil production in March.

One of the pipelines attached to the unit burst in 2015, dumping 120,000 gallons of crude oil onto the coast and into the ocean.

Environmental groups opposed the restart, saying the pipeline was not safe to operate. They also questioned whether Sable had the experience to operate the unit properly. The company formed shortly before acquiring the pipeline in 2024.

Opponents challenged the federal government’s move to seize oversight of the pipeline from the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

The ruling disagreed, and confirmed that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has legal oversight over the pipeline.

Sable asked the federal government in 2025 to have the pipeline system declared an interstate pipeline under the Pipeline Safety Act. The act grants oversight of pipelines crossing state lines to the federal government.

The pipeline, which stays in California, was originally under federal oversight. However, the federal government transferred authority to the state in 2016 since the pipeline is entirely within its borders.

However, the PHMSA approved Sable’s request and took back oversight of the pipeline in November 2025.

Even though the judge largely sided with Sable, he did find that the company was still bound by a consent decree that was agreed to by the pipeline’s former operator, Plains All American Pipeline.

The consent decree was placed after the Refugio oil spill and required the current operator of the line to receive approval before restarting production.

Wilson agreed to modify the decree to remove Plains from the agreement, but ruled that Sable was still required to follow it as the current operator of the pipeline.

Because of that, he found that “Sable has violated the express provisions of the consent decree, without justification.”

Wilson ruled that Sable will have to pay the State of California a total of $1.45 million for its past violation of the order.

However, as of now, the ruling found that Sable isn’t in violation because the new authority over the pipeline, the PHMSA, has granted the company authorization to restart production.

In addition to the restart, Wilson declared that the order means that the California Department of Parks and Recreation cannot bring legal action against Sable to stop oil production through Gaviota State Park.

Linda Krop, the chief counsel for the Environmental Defense Center, said the group was disappointed by the judge’s decision, which she called overly broad.

The EDC was representing itself and other local environmental groups.

Krop said the decision seems to conflict with another case the EDC is involved in against Sable.

She added that the federal judge in that case found that the Defense Production Act only preempts actions that would interfere with contracts and service orders that are necessary for national security.

She said that situation does not apply here since Sable did not have any contracts with the federal government.

“We just don’t feel like that’s consistent with the law itself and, so, this will probably be decided on appeal,” Krop said.

Despite disagreeing with the decision on the Defense Production Act, Krop said the EDC was pleased that the judge found that Sable violated the consent decree.

Regarding the larger implications of the decision, Krop said the benefits for Sable are limited. However, the decision could have larger effects for other states and legal cases.

“For the precedent, I think it is very significant,” Krop said, “especially with the Trump administration perhaps taking some encouragement from this and trying to preempt states all over the country from asserting their rightful authority.”