California loses bid to block Sable Offshore from pumping oil

[Gas Pipeline In Front Of The Oil Pump]
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images

Sable Offshore (SOC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SOC]) surged 12% on Thursday after a federal judge ruled the company's moving oil through an underground pipeline does not cause imminent harm to the environment, rejecting [https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/california-loses-bid-to-block-sable-from-moving-oil-through-park] California's attempt to block the company's operations.

The state's safety concerns around the infrastructure in Gaviota State Park were not enough to warrant a preliminary injunction, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled.

The judge did not rule on whether the Defense Production Act order to restart the Las Flores pipeline system was lawful; U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had ordered Sable Offshore (SOC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SOC]) to begin production earlier this year, leading the California Department of Parks and Recreation to sue the company as part of the state's effort to stop the Trump administration from usurping local control of a pipeline system that ruptured in 2015.

The judge said the state "is grasping at straws" for evidence of real environmental harm, and the federal consent decree governing the terms of the system's restart is controlled by the California Office of the State Fire Marshal, not the parks department.

MORE ON SABLE OFFSHORE

* Sable Offshore: The Surge Offers A Great Exit Point (Downgrade) [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4883314-sable-offshore-stock-surge-offers-great-exit-point-downgrade]
* Sable Offshore: The Tides Have Shifted In Favor Of Production Start (Rating Upgrade) [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4882458-sable-offshore-the-tides-have-shifted-in-favor-of-production-start-rating-upgrade]
* Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on Sable Offshore [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SOC/ratings/quant-ratings]