LOS ANGELES, March 13 (Reuters) - The Trump

administration on Friday directed Sable Offshore ( SOC ) to

restore oil drilling operations off the southern California

coast, the U.S. Energy Department said.

The move aims to restart oil production at a cluster of

offshore platforms as fuel prices continue to rise in the wake

of the war on Iran. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an

executive order to let the secretary of energy take actions

under the Defense Production Act.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told Sable to restart

work at the Santa Ynez unit and Santa Ynez pipeline "to address

supply disruption risks caused by California policies that have

left the region and U.S. military forces dependent on foreign

oil," the Energy Department said in a statement.

Sable Offshore ( SOC ) did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

The Santa Ynez unit and Santa Ynez pipeline system have been

points of contention in California. The Santa Ynez offshore

platforms were shut down in 2015 after an oil spill, but the

company has since restarted production at one of them.

A state judge last year ruled against the Houston,

Texas-based company's request to lift a cease and desist order

on repairs it had made to an onshore pipeline system.

In January, the California attorney general said the state

was suing the Trump administration for asserting federal

authority over two state pipelines and permitting Sable to

restart pumping oil through them.

The Energy Department said Sable's facility could produce

approximately 50,000 barrels of oil per day.