Why These Energy Stocks are Gaining This Week

5. Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) 

Share Price Gains Between Dec. 30 – Jan. 6: 15.54%

Next on our list of Energy Stocks that Gained This Week is Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC), an independent upstream company focused on developing the Santa Ynez Unit in federal waters offshore California.

Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) has shot up by around 80% over the last month after the company succeeded in its efforts to receive federal approval to restart its controversial oil and gas pipeline near Santa Barbara, overriding the strong local opposition to the project. However, Sable continues to face resistance from California residents and environmental groups and was even hit with an emergency lawsuit by the Environmental Defense Center and Center for Biological Diversity seeking to block the restart on December 26.

The plaintiffs argued that the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) had ‘bypassed the required public notice, opportunity for public participation, statement of reasons for its decisions, and other conditions’ required under the federal Pipeline Safety Act. However, the pipeline regulator responded by saying that it had granted an emergency permission to Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) based on a national energy emergency declared by President Trump last year.

Resultantly, on January 2, a federal court denied the request to stay PMHSA’s decision to take over oversight of Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) plans to restart the Santa Ynez unit, marking a major victory for the company and potentially clearing its way to resume oil production locally.

Following the court’s decision, Benchmark analyst Subash Chandra reiterated the firm’s ‘Buy’ rating on Sable Offshore Corp. (NYSE:SOC) and assigned the stock a price target of $20. The analyst believes that Sable’s Santa Ynez unit is ‘the closest it has been’ to restarting, but noted that the case hasn’t been dismissed, with responses and briefs due over the next few months.