Oracle weighs trucked natural gas for Project Jupiter as pipeline slips

Oracle is putting natural gas on trucks to keep some of its AI data centers running. The reason is simple: the pipelines that are supposed to deliver that gas are not ready yet.

The company now appears to be considering the same approach for Project Jupiter, its massive AI campus in New Mexico. That project’s dedicated gas pipeline has been delayed by state permitting problems. Trucking gas works. It is also estimated to cost about four times as much as pipeline gas.

Gas on wheels

Oracle is already relying on trucked compressed natural gas at AI data center sites in Salt Lake City and in Shackelford County, Texas. Suppliers including Certarus and VoltaGrid are providing the fuel.

Oracle treats the arrangement as temporary. The trucks fill the gap until permanent pipeline infrastructure is built.

The economics are the catch. Trucked gas is estimated to run approximately four times the cost of gas delivered by pipeline. Keeping a power-hungry facility online also requires frequent, large shipments, which adds a logistics headache on top of the price premium.

Project Jupiter’s pipeline problem

Project Jupiter sits on a 1,400-acre campus in New Mexico. It is designed to host up to approximately 2.45 GW of power generation from Bloom Energy fuel cells.

That supply was supposed to come from the Green Chile Project pipeline. Its in-service date was originally August 15, 2026. It has now been pushed to February 1, 2027.

The delay followed two permit rejections by the New Mexico State Land Office.

Trucked gas is the backup plan under consideration for Jupiter.

A force majeure notice and a public reassurance

On September 24, 2026, Oracle issued a force majeure notice to its developer over power-supply risks. At the same time, Oracle has publicly maintained that Project Jupiter remains on schedule for its 2028 target completion.

What this means for AI infrastructure

For Oracle, the cost question is the most immediate. Paying roughly four times more for fuel, even temporarily, puts pressure on the economics of energy-intensive facilities. The longer pipeline delays drag on, the longer that premium lasts.

The key dates are now clear. February 1, 2027 is the revised in-service target for the Green Chile Project pipeline. 2028 is Oracle’s stated completion goal for Project Jupiter. Any further slippage on the pipeline would narrow the margin between those two dates.

The New Mexico State Land Office has already rejected permits twice. How that process unfolds will likely determine whether trucked gas stays a short bridge or becomes a longer, costlier detour.