Key facts
- Oracle's $165 billion data center project in New Mexico, Project Jupiter, is delayed.
- The delay is caused by the natural gas pipeline, Green Chile Project, now set for February 1, 2027.
- Project Jupiter could use up to 2.5 gigawatts of gas-powered fuel cells.
- The Green Chile Project is designed to deliver up to 400 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.
- New Mexico's State Land Office has not approved the pipeline's route across state-owned land.
Oracle's ambitious $165 billion data center project in New Mexico, known as Project Jupiter, has encountered a significant obstacle due to a delay in the natural gas pipeline intended to power it. Transwestern Pipeline, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer, has pushed back the expected in-service date for its Green Chile Project from August 15 to February 1, 2027. This six-month delay poses a substantial risk to Oracle's timeline for Project Jupiter, located in Doña Ana County.
Project Jupiter is designed to be a massive facility, potentially utilizing up to 2.5 gigawatts of gas-powered fuel cells supplied by Bloom Energy. The Green Chile pipeline is crucial, as it is designed to deliver up to 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to the site, representing approximately 0.4% of total Lower 48 U.S. gas production. Oracle had previously alerted federal regulators in May about the critical nature of the pipeline's timely completion.
The delay stems from repeated declines by New Mexico’s State Land Office to approve Energy Transfer’s proposed pipeline route, which crosses a portion of state-owned land. This setback highlights the emerging challenges in the rapid expansion of AI data centers, where developers seek dedicated power sources but face hurdles with fuel, pipelines, and permitting.
Despite this specific delay, Energy Transfer has seen success elsewhere, already supplying gas to an Oracle data center campus near Abilene, Texas, and securing agreements for over 6 billion cubic feet per day of new demand from data centers and power plants. In reaction to the news, Oracle shares fell 4% on Friday afternoon, while Energy Transfer's stock gained 1.4%.