An oil company CEO said using tankers to ship oil from oil platforms off the Santa Barbara County coastline might happen if the use of the pipeline system it recently restarted is blocked in court.
Sable Offshore Corporation’s CEO confirmed the possibility during a visit by Trump Administration officials to the company’s Santa Barbara County facilities.
The controversy has been over the safety of the pipeline. Sable Offshore Corporation failed to get state approval to restart operations, so it turned to the federal government. In March, the government ordered the restart, using a 1950’s law allowing the bypass of regulators during a national emergency.
It’s led to lawsuits challenging the use of the law.
On Friday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum toured the facilities. At a media event afterwards, KCLU News asked Sable CEO Jim Flores about his recent comments about using tankers to move oil if legal efforts stop pipeline use.
"The oil is only going to get to the market if we can transport it there. We have a beautiful pipeline onshore. But, as an alternative, if that market goes away, or the pipeline becomes constrained, we have the marine option," said Flores.
The Energy Secretary said if tankers are used, California might miss out on oil coming from its own coastline. "Sell the oil to Asia, instead of to California, and Americans? That's not a problem for Sable, but probably better for our country to have those resources go into our most expensive energy state, and have some price relief here," said Wright.
Environmental groups contend the decades old pipeline system could rupture and cause another major spill, like it did in 2015. They've said they consider word that offshore oil tankers might be used as a tactic to keep the pipeline operating, because many experts consider pipelines to be safer than the use of ships.
