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Oil CEO urges Newsom to do the 'math' as California governor vows to stop offshore drilling
By Max Bacall
Published March 18, 2026
Sable Offshore Corp. CEO Jim Flores argued Tuesday that the company’s restored oil drilling off the California coast will provide a significant boost to consumers as the state vows to pump the brakes on production.
"Gavin [Newsom] should be doing the math and realizing that, hey, this is the best thing that happened — to lower consumer prices for Californians," Flores told "The Ingraham Angle."
Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Friday directed the Houston-based oil and gas company to restore operations at the Santa Ynez Unit and the Santa Ynez Pipeline System off the coast of Santa Barbara after the Trump administration invoked the Defense Production Act, saying the move is necessary to address oil supply disruption risks and reduce reliance on foreign crude.
A view of the offshore oil and gas platform Esther on March 17, 2026, in Seal Beach, California. Using emergency powers, the Trump administration has ordered oil and gas company Sable Offshore Corp. to resume offshore oil production off California’s coast to boost domestic supply as oil prices rise amid the war with Iran. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The action comes after concerns about oil shortages spurred by the conflict with Iran helped drive prices over $100 a barrel last week for the first time since 2022, as fallout roiled global markets and investors priced in the risk of tighter supply.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the order Friday, calling the Trump administration’s use of the Defense Production Act "reckless and illegal" and pledging to fight the directive. The governor's office also claimed operations would have little effect on global oil prices while posing a threat to the environment.
Flores argued Sable's program would produce enough oil to fill 6 million cars a month in a "very safe" way, claiming that great improvements have been made to the pipelines after a spill released more than 140,000 gallons of crude oil along the Santa Barbara coast in 2015.
Oil tankers sit anchored off the coast of Seal Beach on March 17, 2026, in Seal Beach, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
WHITE HOUSE SAYS OIL PRICE SPIKE IS TEMPORARY AS TRUMP PUSHES ENERGY DOMINANCE AMID IRAN WAR
Flores added that much of the newly produced fuel would be "used by the 50 military bases in California, Nevada and Arizona."
"And that's the reason why Trump invoked the Defense Production Act," he said. "He has to make sure those military bases and those sailors and airmen and so forth have fuel for their jets and their boats."
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Newsom blamed President Donald Trump and the war with Iran for surging prices, claiming the president and Sable "are defying multiple court orders."
"Donald Trump started a war, admitted it would spike gas prices nationwide, and told Americans it was a small price to pay. Now he’s using this crisis of his own making to attempt what he’s wanted to do for years: open California’s coast for his oil industry friends so they can poison our beaches. This wouldn’t lower prices by a cent. This is an attempt to illegally restart a pipeline whose operators are facing criminal charges and prohibited by multiple court orders from restarting," Newsom said in a press release.
California once produced over 1 million barrels of oil per day in the 1980s, compared to around 250,000 barrels today, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Fox News Digital's Ashley Carnahan and Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/oil-ceo-urges-newsom-do-math-california-governor-vows-stop-offshore-drilling