Sable Offshore gets rare win over environmental activists in California after hiccups

Sable Offshore scored a rare win over environmental activists in California after regulators ruled the technical “hiccups” behind excess air pollution at one of its offshore oil platforms should be resolved within months.The Air Pollution Control District’s quasi-judicial hearing examiner Terrence Dressler granted the oil company a five-day variance allowing Platform Heritage, located eight miles off the Santa Barbara coast, to temporarily exceed the amount of air pollution permitted under its operating permit.The decision came over objections from environmental groups that have spent the past two years fighting Sable’s return to offshore oil production, according to the Santa Barbara Independent.Dressler said he was persuaded by Sable’s claim that it expects to fix the issues causing excess emissions within 90 days, warning that failure to do so would be a violation because the district “does not allow violations to continue.”Platform Heritage, one of three offshore platforms Sable bought from Exxon two years ago, resumed operations in March after sitting idle for nine years following the 2015 Refugio pipeline spill.In its variance application, the company said the restart had been plagued by “an unexpected number of equipment malfunctions, onshore and offshore production balancing issues, and well production issues,” which triggered more unplanned flaring than expected.The five-day waiver bridges the gap until June 30, when Sable’s current three-month permit ends and a new emissions period begins.During that time, the company expects to bring unplanned flaring within allowable limits while providing regular monitoring reports.Company representative Patrice Surmeier told the hearing Sable spent $110 million over the past year preparing Platform Heritage for its restart, deploying about 180 crew members along with engineers, consultants, and technical specialists.

She said every piece of inspectable equipment had been tested, yet the unexpected ...