CHANNEL ISLANDS : Agency Withdraws Order Against Exxon

Hoping to avoid extended appeals or litigation, federal officials have withdrawn an order demanding Exxon Corp. stop shipping monthly loads of crude oil within 50 miles of the ecologically fragile Channel Islands.

By withdrawing their March 28 order, representatives of the federal Minerals Management Service said they hope to find a solution to the dispute that will satisfy the government and the Houston-based oil giant.

“In no way does this lessen our resolve in this matter,” said John Romero, a spokesman for the federal agency. “We are fully prepared to reissue a cease-and-desist order if we cannot reach an acceptable conclusion to this dispute. Of course, by keeping it on the local level, we are hoping to avoid that scenario.”

On the last day to appeal the order, Exxon officials Wednesday signed an agreement giving the company and the government as much as 45 days to resolve the issue.

While the two sides continue to meet, Exxon has agreed not to send additional loads of crude oil from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

“We support MMS’s actions. We believe that it will help all parties review and expedite a resolution of this matter,” Exxon spokesman Bruce Tackett said. “But, we still believe that our development and production plan permits allow us to ship oil by tanker when needed.”

Officials with the Santa Barbara County Energy Division and the California Coastal Commission’s Energy and Ocean Resources Unit have endorsed the effort to resolve the conflict.

Since last October, Exxon has been transporting oil produced at its Santa Ynez Unit offshore fields north of Santa Barbara via pipeline to a refinery in the San Francisco Bay area.

From there, some of the oil is sent to a nearby marine terminal and pumped aboard the Exxon-owned tanker R/S Baytown, where it was shipped to Los Angeles Harbor. About 200,000 barrels, or 8.4 million gallons, was being shipped monthly before the order was issued.