Houston's Highest-Paid Executive Led Oil Company That Sold No Crude

The highest-paid executive in Houston last year was James Flores, chairman and chief executive of Sable Offshore, who earned $76 million in 2025, securities filings obtained by the Houston Chronicle revealed.

Despite the substantial earnings, Sable Offshore, a Texas-based company with operations in California, sold no crude oil last year and reported a net loss of approximately $410.2 million. Flores' compensation included a $1.3 million base salary, a $3.9 million bonus, and stock valued at about $69 million.

Sable Offshore has been involved in a contentious legal and political battle in California following a 2015 pipeline rupture that caused one of the state's most severe oil spills. The incident involved over 140,000 gallons of oil from the Santa Ynez Unit pipeline, which at the time was owned by Exxon Mobil and Plains All American Pipeline. The spill affected 150 miles of coastline from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles and impacted habitats for endangered whales and sea turtles.

However, Sable, having acquired the pipeline in 2024, was permitted to resume operations pumping oil off the California coast on March 14, 2026. This restart followed an emergency order issued by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright under the Defense Production Act, citing the ongoing war in Iran.

"We are encouraged by the productivity of the wells," Flores stated in an August statement. "We look forward to working with our midstream and downstream partners to maximize the amount of domestic crude oil from the [Santa Ynez Unit] getting to market for the benefit of California consumers and the U.S. Military and its allies globally."

The decision to restart the pipeline faced opposition from California leaders and environmentalists. Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the move at the time, calling it an attempt to illegally restart a pipeline whose operators faced criminal charges and were prohibited by court orders. Newsom asserted that California would not allow the Trump administration to endanger its coastal communities, environment, and economy, vowing further legal action.

Flores assumed leadership of Sable Offshore in September 2021. He holds a bachelor's degree in finance and petroleum land management from Louisiana State University and has a background in the energy sector, having cofounded the oil and gas company Ocean Energy in the 1990s and later led Plains Exploration & Production. In 2017, he became CEO of Sable Permian Resources, a West Texas drilling company that later filed for bankruptcy in 2020.