Chevron has announced it will purchase oil from Sable Offshore Corp., a Houston-based energy company, marking a significant development in the ongoing clash between California state officials and the Trump administration over offshore oil production near Santa Barbara.
According to the New York Post, Chevron plans to buy an initial 20,000 barrels of oil per day from Sable’s offshore platforms near Santa Barbara. Chevron executive Andy Walz confirmed the deal, saying the oil will be processed at the company’s El Segundo refinery — a facility capable of handling about 269,000 barrels per day — beginning in April.
“We’re going to run Sable’s crude at El Segundo in April,” Walz said, adding, “We’re taking American crude oil, putting it in American pipelines, running an American refinery and selling those products to American motorists — and it’s going to be cheaper than importing.”
Sable announced on March 16 that it had restarted production at its Santa Barbara offshore platforms, sending oil through the region’s pipelines for the first time since 2015, when a corroded pipeline section burst and triggered one of California’s worst oil spills. The Los Angeles Times reported that the Santa Ynez Unit — which includes the offshore rigs, pipelines, and a processing plant — was under different ownership at the time of the spill. Sable says it has fully repaired the infrastructure.
The restart followed a March 13 order from U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, which invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA), a Cold War-era law allowing the federal government to accelerate production of critical materials including oil and gas. President Trump signed an executive order directing the move, which federal officials say is aimed at reducing California’s dependence on foreign oil and addressing “supply disruption risks.” With production now underway, output could ramp up to between 45,000 and 55,000 barrels per day.
California, however, is fighting back. As the Los Angeles Times reported, the California Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court in San Francisco, calling Wright’s order a “breathtaking power grab” that illegally overrides state authority. The suit argues the administration failed to meet the DPA’s basic requirements, including demonstrating an actual energy shortage.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been blunt in his opposition. “The Trump Administration and its oil industry buddies are once again violating the law and trampling on our state’s rights in pursuit of corporate profits,” Bonta said in a statement. He added, “California has seen first-hand the devastating environmental and public health impacts of these pipelines rupturing, and there are court-ordered legal requirements in place to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
In a separate statement directed at the Chevron-Sable deal, Bonta said, “The Attorney General is seeking to halt Sable’s unlawful restart of California’s onshore oil pipelines that are subject to State regulation and oversight. California is unwavering in our commitment to protect our coastline and our public health.”
CalMatters reported that this is actually California’s second lawsuit against the Trump administration tied to Sable’s operations. A previous suit filed in January alleged that the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration illegally stripped the state’s fire marshal of regulatory authority over Sable’s pipelines. That case remains in litigation.
The Chevron deal matters for California drivers. The state consistently ranks among the highest in the nation for gas prices — often more than $2 per gallon above the national average. The New York Post has noted that California’s oil production has plummeted roughly 77% since 1986, dropping from about 1.1 million barrels per day to just 246,000 barrels per day as of late 2025. The U.S. Oil and Gas Association has pointed out that California currently imports 63% of its crude from foreign countries, despite sitting on at least 1.7 billion barrels of proven reserves.
Walz called the Sable arrangement a win for American energy independence. “The Sable opportunity is a good thing for America,” he said.
Multiple legal battles remain unresolved. A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge is scheduled to rule next month on an injunction that had previously halted Sable from restarting the pipelines. A separate challenge involving the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is also pending. Any ruling is widely expected to face further legal challenges, meaning the fight over California’s coastal oil future is far from over.
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