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Oil rigs are based offshore in Santa Barbara. The oil is then set inland for refining.

In the sunny state of California, oil fields in the south have stayed stagnant for 11 years. As fuel prices skyrocket across the country and tension rises in the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald J. Trump has ordered California’s Santa Barbara pipeline to reopen for offshore oil production, March 13.

Trump backed his decision with the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, forcing the pipeline to restart to provide additional aid. The President claims the shortage and surge in gas prices are due to the increasing conflict in the Middle East.

The president and the U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright directed Sable Offshore Corporation to resume oil flow off the shore of Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara, CA.

Sable Offshore Corporation recently acquired the pipeline and resumed the flow of oil through it. The corporation was directed to do so by Wright, bypassing California state laws.

The new pipeline will produce around 60,000 barrels of oil per day and provide 300 new jobs, according to Sable Offshore.

California is sitting on 600 MILLION barrels of oil—locked up for over a decade…

I went to Platform Harmony: 60,000 barrels a day now flowing again, jobs returning after 11 years in limbo.

“California was once an energy powerhouse… now it relies on foreign oil.”… pic.twitter.com/ESwKHvxYm6

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 26, 2026

California locals are concerned about a potential repeat of the massive oil spill on Refugio Beach in 2015. Over a decade ago, a Plains All-American Pipeline ruptured in Santa Barbara, spilling an estimated 126,000 gallons of oil into the ocean and local beaches

Governor Gavin Newsom argues that Trump’s move is illegal and that oil flow through the Sable pipeline is barred by a federal court order. This order states that oil production cannot resume without the approval of California inspectors. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy at a press conference, March 13.

“California has seen first-hand the devastating environmental and public health impacts of these pipeline ruptures, and there are court-ordered legal requirements in place to ensure that it does not happen again,” Bonta said.

Newsom and Bonta also claim that the reopening of the pipeline will not decrease gas prices or significantly contribute to the nation’s oil supply.

When a national emergency is declared, the president is allowed to override state policy, therefore contradicting Newsom and Bonta’s lawsuit.

The future of the newly-restarted Sable pipeline is uncertain. Wright continues to back the Trump Administration’s decision in hopes it will strengthen American oil supply and boost West Coast military readiness and national defense.

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