Sable Offshore Corp said Wednesday the Santa Barbara Superior Court had issued a tentative ruling indicating the court would deny the company’s claims against the California Coastal Commission (CCC), in a permitting dispute over repairs on the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) pipeline system. However, Houston, Texas-based Sable insisted even if the court decision becomes final, “the ruling would have no impact on the resumption of petroleum transportation through the Las Flores Pipeline System”. “Additionally, oil and gas production from the federal Santa Ynez Unit and the flow of petroleum from the Santa Ynez Unit to the Las Flores Canyon processing facilities or to a potential offshore storage and treating vessel (OS&T) would be unaffected by rulings in the Coastal Commission litigation”, it said in a statement on its website. SYU is Sable’s sole operation. SYU ceased flows 2015 after an oil spill that, according to the CCC, released 123,000 gallons of oil and caused environmental damage to 150 miles of coastline. SYU was then owned by Plains Pipeline LP, which sold it to Exxon Mobil Corp 2022. Sable acquired SYU from ExxonMobil February 2024. Nonetheless Sable plans to escalate such a final judgment by the Superior Court to the California Court of Appeal. “Sable is suing the Coastal Commission for the damages it has caused Sable by erroneously issuing cease and desist orders during Sable’s anomaly repair program on the Las Flores Pipeline System”, the statement said. “The anomaly repair program and hydrotesting of the Las Flores Pipeline System was [sic] completed in May 2025 in accordance with the Federal Consent Decree. “Sable intends to continue its pursuit of the writ of mandate in the Court of Appeal as well as declaratory relief and inverse condemnation claims in excess of approximately $347 million”. Sable added it “continues to work diligently with the

Monumental Energy Corp said Wednesday it has agreed to fund New Zealand Energy Corp’s (NZEC) share of workover costs to restart flows at several wells in the Waihapa/Ngaere field in the onshore Taranaki basin. “These workovers will follow the same royalty structure as that established for the successful Copper Moki programs, whereas Monumental will earn a 25 percent royalty on NZEC’s production share after full recovery of its capital investment, which will be repaid from 75 percent of NZEC’s net revenue interest”, Vancouver, Canada-based Monumental said in a press release. Monumental is a shareholder in NZEC. L&M Energy will shoulder the remaining part as NZEC’s equal partner in the campaign, Monumental said. The workovers involve the Waihapa-H1 well and the Ngaere 1, 2, and 3 wells. “The Waihapa-H1 well, drilled in the early 2000s, initially flowed oil at rates of approximately 1,500 barrels per day from fracture porosity within the Tikorangi horizontal section”, Monumental said. “Production ceased due to a collapse in the upper section of the wellbore. “A workover program proposed to return the well to production includes jetting clean-out and the installation of new tubing. The well site is located approximately 600 meters from, and easily connected to, the Waihapa production facility. “The Ngaere 1, 2, and 3 wells historically produced oil from the Tikorangi Formation. However, a review of electric logs and drilling data has identified multiple shallower, hydrocarbon-charged sand intervals in each well that present opportunities for additional oil and gas production. A field redevelopment program has been designed to access and produce these bypassed pay zones. “The steel casing in each well will be perforated at the target intervals, followed by production testing. All three wells are connected via existing pipelines to the Waihapa production and export facilities, allowing for immediate oil and gas sales

Oil extended a slump to a fresh five-month low as mounting concerns over a long-anticipated supply glut outweighed broader financial market strength. West Texas Intermediate eased to settle near $58 a barrel, the lowest since May. Prices fluctuated in choppy trade for much of the day after losing roughly 7% over the past five sessions. While equities rebounded on the Federal Reserve signaling another rate cut later this month, oil remains under pressure after the OPEC+ alliance decided this year to return shuttered production faster than expected, adding to worries about a glut. “Oil is still strongly influenced by trade tensions and shifts in risk sentiment, but with equity markets in positive territory there is some modest support,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. The International Energy Agency increased its estimate for record oversupply next year, and some oil-trading giants say the long-anticipated excess is already starting to emerge. Traders will also likely hone in on an industry report on US oil supplies due later Wednesday. Key physical US crude grades have also weakened to the lowest in about two months as the trade spat between US and China escalated and sent shipping rates surging. “WTI faces significant resistance around $60 a barrel, and headline risk surrounding US-China tensions remains elevated,” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group. The ongoing tit-for-tat between Beijing and Washington, the two biggest oil consumers, escalated this week, though US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer predicted the tensions would soon ease. Some market metrics are also flashing softness. A closely watched timespread — the gap between the two nearest December contracts for WTI — has flipped into contango, a bearish structure where prices for supplies available near term is cheaper than deliveries further out. Oil Prices WTI for November fell 0.7% to

An oil market surplus that’s long been anticipated by investors is finally showing signs of emerging, a fact that may start to drive down crude prices, the boss of one of the world’s top energy traders said. “It looks like we are now moving into a bit of a different market,” Torbjorn Tornqvist, chief executive officer of Gunvor Group, said in an interview in London. “We have heard it before and people have been burned on that. But this time around, at this stage, I think there’s a bit more substance in the oversupplied narrative.” The International Energy Agency said earlier that the world is set for a record surplus of 4 million barrels a day in 2026 as OPEC+ nations — in addition to countries outside the producer group — boost output. It said cargoes are starting to build up at sea, a sign of oversupply. Tornqvist’s own estimate is for a surplus about half that size next year — still a substantial overhang. As such, oil prices should be heading lower, even if the market is unlikely to create a so-called supercontango that can make storage of commodities very profitable, according to the CEO. “There’s a great deal more oil hitting the market at the time where there is no additional demand for it,” Tornqvist said Tuesday. “And on top of that, you obviously have renewed trade tensions.” Last week, crude in the US plunged below $60 a barrel for the first time since May. It traded below $59 on Tuesday. Tough Trading Some of the world’s top oil companies reported a tougher trading environment in the second quarter as geopolitical uncertainty created the wrong kind of volatility — decoupled from supply-and-demand fundamentals. Tornqvist said geopolitics are generating smaller oil-price premiums as tensions in key producing Middle East

The non-profit Energy Policy Design Institute on Wednesday launched an effort to help state public utility commissions make decisions on virtual power plants. “The VPP Convergence Project offers a great opportunity to build credibility and clear, consistent communication with regulators, so utilities and consumers can fully benefit from VPPs,” Jigar Shah, the project’s honorary chair and former director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, said in a press release. VPPs have a successful track record but aren’t well understood, according to the VPP Convergence Project. The group aims to soon offer tools to help regulators and policymakers understand VPPs and how they can be used. “Our goal isn’t to push specific policies — it’s to help public utility commissions cut through the noise and efficiently make informed, evidence-based decisions,” Ted Ko, EPDI executive director, said in the release. VPPs combine and manage distributed resources such as smart thermostats, electric vehicles, batteries and solar arrays so they can act as a single grid resource. The VPP Convergence Project’s steering committee members include Jeff Loiter, a technical director at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, Lakin Garth, director of research and industry strategy at the Smart Electric Power Alliance, and Lauren Shwisberg, a principal in RMI’s Carbon-Free Electricity Practice. Companies involved in the effort include Tesla, Sunrun, Leap, Voltus, Sparkfund and others. VPP capacity in North America grew 13.7% to 37.5 GW last year, Wood Mackenzie said in a report last month. Obstacles to VPP deployment include enrollment caps on utility VPP programs, power market reforms that reduce VPPs’ capacity accreditation and market barriers for small customers, according to the consulting firm.

More than seven of every 10 public companies on the S&P 500 now flag their use of artificial intelligence as a material risk in their public disclosures, according to a report released Friday by The Conference Board.  That figure represents a sharp increase from just 12% in 2023, reflecting the rapid implementation of AI use among major enterprises.  “This is a powerful reflection of how quickly AI has developed from a niche topic to widely adopted and embedded in the organization,” Andrew Jones, a principal researcher at the Conference Board Governance & Sustainability Center, told Cybersecurity Dive via email.  AI has moved beyond the experimentation phase at major enterprises and is embedded across core business systems, including product design, logistics, credit modeling and customer interfaces, Jones said.  The report shows that corporate boards and C-suite leaders are addressing a range of risk factors in connection with AI deployment.  Reputational risk is the most widely disclosed issue, at 38%, according to the report. This reflects the potential impact of losing trust in a brand in the case of a service breakdown, mishandling of consumer privacy or a customer-facing tool that fails to deliver.  Cybersecurity risk is cited by 20% of firms. AI increases the attack surface, and companies are also at risk from third-party applications.  Legal and regulatory risks are also a major issue, as state and federal governments have rapidly attempted to set up security guardrails to protect the public, while providing enough support for companies to continue innovation.  While AI deployment is rapidly evolving in the enterprise, corporate leaders are still struggling to fully develop the governance structures to manage its use.  The PwC “2025 Annual Corporate Director’s Survey” shows only 35% of corporate boards have formally integrated AI into their oversight responsibilities, an indication that companies are still