Why Is Sable Offshore Stock Soaring Premarket Today?

The move appears to strip the state and Santa Barbara of their authority over the pipeline and its permitting process.
Offshore oil platform with Santa Cruz Island in the background, Santa Barbara Channel, California. (Photo by: Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Offshore oil platform with Santa Cruz Island in the background, Santa Barbara Channel, California. (Photo by: Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Sourasis Bose·Stocktwits
Published Dec 18, 2025   |   6:10 AM EST
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  • Sable Offshore was dealt a blow after the California Coastal Commission blocked the restart of the Las Flores subsea pipeline, which can ship crude from the Santa Ynez to refineries in California.
  • U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright signaled support for the project in October.
  • The Houston-based company argued that the state's coastal commission lacks the legal authority to halt the pipeline’s operations.

Sable Offshore (SOC) stock soared over 43% in premarket trading on Thursday after the federal government designated a key pipeline as an interstate project, potentially paving the way to end the regulatory hurdles for the project.

The move, as revealed in a regulatory filing, appears to strip the state and Santa Barbara of their authority over the pipeline and its permitting process, shifting control instead to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a federal agency under the Trump administration.

Why Is The Reclassification Important?

Sable Offshore was dealt a blow after the California Coastal Commission blocked the restart of the Las Flores subsea pipeline, which can ship crude from the Santa Ynez to refineries in California. The Houston-based company later argued that the state's coastal commission lacks the legal authority to halt the pipeline’s operations.

The Santa Ynez project is the only one that Sable operates. The company acquired the offshore production facility from ExxonMobil. It began production from one of the three offshore platforms in that project, nearly a decade after it was shut down following an oil spill. State officials and environmental groups have warned that restarting the pipeline could pose serious environmental risks.

The company revealed in October that, in the absence of a regulatory permit to restart the pipeline, Sable would load the produced oil onto shuttle tankers in federal waters off the coast of Santa Barbara and sell it to various refineries outside California. The company also sought help from the Trump administration. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright signaled support for the project in October, criticizing the state in a post on X for "blocking oil production off California's coast."

What Are Stocktwits Users Thinking?

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Sable Offshore moved to ‘extremely bullish’ territory from ‘bearish’ a day ago.

SOC’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 06:0 a.m. ET on Dec. 18, 2025 | Source: Stocktwits
SOC’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 06:0 a.m. ET on Dec. 18, 2025 | Source: Stocktwits

Sable Offshore stock has fallen by over 77% this year.

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