Oracle has used truck-delivered natural gas at data centers while pipelines lag, and its $165 billion Project Jupiter AI campus in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, faces a setback to its proposed gas pipeline route. The setback has put the planned gas supply in focus.
According to Bloomberg, Oracle has already used truck-delivered natural gas to keep a data center outside Salt Lake City moving forward for more than a year while it waited for a pipeline to be built and integrated with its machinery, according to people familiar with the work. The company is also using truck-delivered gas to begin work at a campus being built for OpenAI in Shackelford County, Texas, per a person familiar with the work cited by Bloomberg. Oracle is also developing a campus in New Mexico.
A Pipeline Delay for Project Jupiter
The gas Project Jupiter was counting on was supposed to arrive via Energy Transfer LP's Green Chile Project, a 17-mile pipeline designed to carry 400 million cubic feet of gas per day to the site. As reported by EnergyNow.com, the New Mexico State Land Office rejected the proposed route across state trust lands, delaying the pipeline project.
Oracle has used workarounds elsewhere, including hiring specialized vendors to haul compressed natural gas by truck instead of waiting on buried infrastructure. Investing.com reports that Oracle used Superior Plus Corp.'s Certarus subsidiary to truck compressed gas to its Salt Lake City-area site, while contracting VoltaGrid LLC to supply gas solutions for the Shackelford County campus in Texas.
Fuel Cells Still Depend on Gas
Project Jupiter's power plan itself has already changed once. In April 2026, Oracle overhauled the campus design, swapping planned natural gas combustion turbines for up to 2.45 gigawatts of Bloom Energy fuel cells, a move the company said would cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 92% and reduce local water use, according to a statement distributed via PR Newswire. The campus plan calls for a daily natural-gas supply for the fuel cells.
That daily gas requirement makes the pipeline question significant. Project Jupiter's power plan depends on getting gas to the property.
Oracle Already Protected Itself Contractually
Oracle has taken steps to shield itself financially while power infrastructure catches up. Per earlier Hoodline reporting on construction near the Project Jupiter site, the campus has faced disputes tied to the pipeline buildout. Engineering News-Record reported that Oracle issued a formal force majeure notice on September 24, 2026, to developer STACK Infrastructure, preserving its right to delay rent payments should power delays stall the campus past its planned 2028 opening — even as Oracle maintains the overall project schedule remains unchanged.
A Pattern Playing Out Across Oracle's AI Footprint
The Texas site offers a glimpse of how far hyperscalers will go to secure power. The Stargate Frontier Campus in Shackelford County, built for OpenAI and Oracle, spans 700 acres and 10 buildings and uses an on-site microgrid powered by Jenbacher natural gas engines, according to Albany News. Hoodline previously covered behind-the-meter gas generation at the broader Stargate network in Texas.
These workarounds reflect a broader effort to secure power for data centers.
Other Data Centers Turn to On-Site Power
Other data-center projects have also turned to on-site power, including natural gas.
Oracle has used truck-delivered natural gas at its Salt Lake City-area site while waiting for pipeline infrastructure, and is using truck-delivered gas to begin work at the Shackelford County, Texas, campus.
Texas Is a Major Data Center Market
Texas remains the second-largest U.S. data center market after Virginia.
Taken together, the Salt Lake City and Shackelford County cases illustrate Oracle's use of trucked gas and on-site generation at data-center projects.
