Three Trump administration Cabinet secretaries plan to visit the contentious Sable oil project off the California coast later this week, Sable CEO Jim Flores announced Monday.
The visit would come months after the Trump administration ordered it to restart over the objections of state officials. The White House is pushing for higher oil production in California despite Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state lawmakers promoting renewable energy and electrification development.
Flores said Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy would visit the project to discuss legal strategies in its ongoing battle with California authorities over its pipeline system, which was responsible for a 2015 oil spill. The company is also in talks with federal officials over an offshore oil tanker loading system that would allow it to bypass state waters entirely, Flores said.
Wright invoked emergency powers under the Defense Production Act in March to restart the pipeline, citing the supply disruption from the war in Iran. Houston-based Sable is now producing around 46,000 barrels per day from its two operating offshore platforms and pumping it through the pipeline to shore, Flores said on the call with analysts Monday.
