Sable Offshore vows courtroom showdown after California blocks Santa Barbara oil restart

A California judge upheld a state injunction blocking Sable Offshore from restarting oil pumping in Santa Barbara County, prompting the company to vow a fight in a May show-cause hearing. Sable argued the president’s Defense Production Act order supersedes state orders, while environmentalists hailed the ruling. The restart had been authorized by a Trump order, and Sable had briefly resumed pumping at the Santa Ynez facility, but the court’s ruling keeps the injunction in place as the legal battle continues.