Sable Offshore Corp. said Oct. 7 that repair crews have completed about two-thirds of the required maintenance to re-start its shuttered pipeline off California’s coast.

The Santa Ynez oil and gas pipeline is re-opening after an oil leak in 2015 became such a difficulty for Exxon Mobil, the original owner at the time of the spill, that the company eventually halted the project.

Originally, Exxon planned to re-open the facility. However, at the end of 2023, the company announced an expected $2.4 billion in impairments over the project, citing continuing challenges with the Californian regulatory environment.

Houston-based Sable purchased the Santa Ynez Unit, which consists of three platforms near Santa Barbara County, with the hopes of re-starting the system by the end of 2024.

The company also continues to work with a bevy of government agencies for final permission to open the Santa Ynez oil and gas pipeline to start operations by the end of the year.

Sable was formed with the February merger of Flame Acquisition Corp., Sable Offshore Holdings and Sable Offshore Corp.

Since taking over the line, Sable has worked to bring the 124-mile pipeline to an “as-new” condition. The company has more than 30 pipeline repair crews on the project, according to the company’s announcement.

In 2020, several federal and state agencies signed a consent decree outlining the repairs and maintenance requirements for re-opening the pipeline. Sable said repair crews have repaired or are working on about 100 threshold anomalies out of 150 that require repair, according to the decree.

Sable said it would continue working with the California Coastal Commission and other government agencies to comply with the state’s strict requirements for pipeline rehabilitation.

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