By Connor Hart

Sable Offshore said it strongly disagrees with many assertions made by Kate Huckelbridge, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, in a cease-and-desist order issued earlier this week regarding work being done to two of the company's oil pipelines.

The Houston-based oil and gas company also argues that the issuance of a cease-and-desist is not in accordance with correct procedures given the context of the work, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday.

Sable and the Coastal Commission have been in an ongoing legal dispute over the firm's effort to restart an oil and gas facility it had purchased from ExxonMobil two years ago. Sable has argued the work being done to the facility qualifies as repair and maintenance, while the Coastal Commission has insisted the work counts as new development, meaning it requires additional permitting from the agency, the Santa Barbara Independent reported.

Sable, citing Section 30809 of the Coastal Act, said that a cease-and-desist order can only be issued by the agency's executive director in specific instances. These include when the activity that has been undertaken "may require a permit from the commission without securing a permit," or when the activity "may be inconsistent with any permit previously issued by the commission," according to the filing.

"Neither of these scenarios exist here," the company said, adding it plans to continue work on the pipelines.

Sable additionally argued that the County of Santa Barbara earlier this month notified Sable in writing that its work was authorized by the oil pipelines' existing coastal development permits, according to the filing.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2025 12:23 ET (17:23 GMT)

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