Oracle’s $165 Billion Data Center Plan Hits a Gas Pipeline Delay

Oracle’s proposed $165 billion data center project in New Mexico has run into a decidedly low-tech problem: the natural gas pipeline meant to help power it won’t be ready on time.Energy Transfer subsidiary Transwestern Pipeline pushed the expected in-service date for its Green Chile Project from August 15 to February 1, 2027, according to a regulatory filing Friday.That six-month delay threatens the schedule for Oracle’s Project Jupiter, a proposed data center development in Doña Ana County near the U.S.-Mexico border.The scale is substantial. Project Jupiter could use as much as 2.5 gigawatts of gas-powered fuel cells supplied by Bloom Energy, while Green Chile is designed to deliver up to 400 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to the site. That is equivalent to roughly 0.4% of total Lower 48 U.S. gas production.Oracle warned federal regulators in May that “time is of the essence” and said delays to Green Chile could jeopardize the broader project.New Mexico’s State Land Office has repeatedly declined to approve Energy Transfer’s proposed pipeline route, which crosses a small section of state-owned land.The setback illustrates one of the constraints emerging alongside the AI data center buildout. Developers increasingly want dedicated generation rather than waiting years for grid connections, but behind-the-meter power still requires fuel, pipelines and permits.Energy Transfer is already benefiting from that shift elsewhere. The company began supplying gas this year to an Oracle data center campus near Abilene, Texas, and has signed agreements representing more than 6 billion cubic feet per day of new demand across data centers, utilities and power plants.Oracle shares were down 4% Friday afternoon, while Energy Transfer gained 1.4%.By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.comMore Top Reads From Oilprice.comKazakhstan Accuses Big Oil of $10.7 Billion Corruption in Kashagan Oil ProjectHormuz Crisis Pushes Asian Refiners Toward U.S. OilIndia's Coal Demand Set to Hit 1.6 Billion Tons by 2030