The Sable Platform Hondo restart remains targeted for the fourth quarter as the company works toward regulatory approval and expands processing capacity for higher offshore oil volumes.
Sable Offshore (NYSE: SOC) expects its October sales rate to exit at approximately 45,000 gross barrels a day before Hondo production is added. September sales are estimated at about 34,000 barrels a day, up from an average of 32,000 in July and August.
Sable Platform Hondo Restart Awaits Final Review
Reconstruction and internal commissioning at Hondo are complete, according to the company’s official operational update. Sable expects the Marine Minerals Administration to complete its final instrumentation, controls and safety review in October.
Additional testing and commissioning are also planned during the month. The restart target therefore depends on regulatory approval and completion of the remaining work rather than representing an operating date already secured.
Sable plans four additional perforation operations before startup, taking the number of Hondo wells receiving the work to nine of 15 from a previously planned five. Each operation is estimated to add about 600 barrels a day at a cost near $800,000.
Processing Upgrades Address a Current Bottleneck
The Las Flores Canyon facility has been able to process roughly 80% of the productive capacity at the operating Harmony and Heritage platforms. Sable is upgrading the site to handle the expected output from all three Santa Ynez Unit platforms.
Completing that work before Hondo restarts is intended to reduce downtime and allow more wells to flow continuously. Current crude-purchaser nominations are expected to average 38,000 barrels a day in October before reaching the projected exit rate.
The company also said it is working with midstream and downstream partners after third-party sales constraints affected the second half of August and September. Production capacity does not become revenue unless oil can be processed, transported and sold.
October’s regulatory review and facility upgrades are the next milestones. Their timing will determine whether Hondo can restart in the fourth quarter and whether Sable can sustain the higher sales rate projected for the end of the year.
