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California Refiners Eye SYU Crude Shift
13 Aug
Summary
- California refineries expected to buy more local crude starting September 2026.
- SYU oil project's Platform Hondo to restart production in September 2026.
- Sable Offshore aims to improve marketing options for crude oil.
California refineries are poised to shift their crude oil supply slate starting in September 2026, favoring Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) barrels from the Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) project over imported supplies. This change is expected to alleviate current throughput constraints for Sable Offshore Corp., the SYU operator.
Platform Hondo, one of SYU's three production platforms, is slated for a planned restart in September 2026. This restart is projected to yield lower sulfur content oil, normalizing field-wide sulfur levels. Sable is also investigating chemical-based solutions for implementation in late 2026, with full deployment anticipated in 2027, to further refine SYU crude.
Sable Offshore has been actively negotiating for waterborne crude oil marketing solutions from Los Angeles-area terminals to improve marketing options. Additionally, a potential third-party acquisition of the Crimson Utilities pipeline network could offer further access to the San Francisco refinery market.
