Oracle issues force majeure notice on New Mexico Stargate data center over gas supply delays
Oracle sent a formal force majeure notice to Blue Owl Capital's unit developing Project Jupiter, the 2.45GW Stargate data center campus in New Mexico. The notice does not exit Oracle from its lease as main tenant, but reserves the right to delay payments if the facility misses its 2028 online target. This follows a ~6-month delay (to Feb 1, 2027) in an Energy Transfer gas pipeline meant to supply the site's Bloom Energy fuel cells, after regulators repeatedly denied permits, plus a pending air-quality permit with a November 23 state decision deadline.
Entities: Oracle, Blue Owl Capital, Project Jupiter, Stargate, OpenAI, SoftBank
0 primary
What happened
Oracle has sent a formal force majeure notice to Blue Owl Capital's development unit for Project Jupiter, the 2.45GW Stargate data centre campus in New Mexico where Oracle is the main tenant. The notice does not end Oracle's lease but reserves the right to delay payments if the site misses its 2028 online target. It follows a roughly six-month delay (now targeting 1 February 2027) in an Energy Transfer gas pipeline needed to feed the site's Bloom Energy fuel cells, caused by repeated permit denials, with a further air-quality permit decision due from New Mexico regulators on 23 November.
Why it matters
This is a concrete contractual move on one of the flagship Stargate sites, showing that gas-supply and permitting delays are now hitting payment terms, not just construction schedules. It matters to Oracle, Blue Owl, OpenAI and SoftBank as a live financial and timeline risk, and to regulators and competitors watching whether energy infrastructure, not chip supply, becomes the real bottleneck for AI data centre buildout. No payment has actually been withheld yet, so the immediate financial impact is still hypothetical.
What is noise
The "political flashpoint ahead of the midterms" framing and broad claims about "growing strain" across Stargate nationally go beyond what's actually documented here, which is one contractual notice at one site. There's no primary source (no filing, letter or press release link); the reporting rests on Bloomberg's anonymous sources via TechCrunch, though Oracle and Blue Owl did confirm the notice on the record to CNBC, which lends it real credibility despite the thin sourcing.
Watch next
- 01Whether Oracle actually delays or withholds a payment to Blue Owl after 1 February 2027 if the pipeline slips again
- 02The outcome of New Mexico Environment Department's air-quality permit decision due 23 November 2026
- 03Any statement or filing from Oracle, Blue Owl, OpenAI or SoftBank quantifying financial exposure or revising the 2028 online date for Project Jupiter
Coverage
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