Oracle flags force majeure risk at Stargate’s New Mexico site

What the notice does

Force majeure clauses are common in energy and commodities contracts. They can excuse a party from its obligations when circumstances beyond its control prevent performance.

Here, the notice gives Oracle the option to defer payments if the launch slips. Blue Owl Capital, whose subsidiary received the notice, told CNBC that it does not change the financial obligations for the multiyear project.

Oracle told CNBC that it does not expect a delay and is continuing to follow the Project Jupiter plan. The company also said it remains fully committed to New Mexico and confident in the project’s continued execution.

Oracle and Blue Owl did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s requests for comment.

The power problem

The notice followed a series of setbacks at the site, many tied to the power supply. The campus is designed for a 2.45 GW load and is expected to use Bloom Energy gas fuel cells, making dependable gas delivery a direct condition of the schedule.

The Energy Transfer pipeline intended to supply the site is nearly six months late. Its new delivery date is February 1, 2027, after regulators repeatedly rejected construction permits. Bloomberg reported in August that the pipeline route was changed after those rejections.

A separate air-quality permit for the fuel cells has still not been issued. The state Department of Environment must decide on it by November 23.

Stargate’s New Mexico bet

Project Jupiter is one of Stargate’s key sites, part of the AI infrastructure initiative announced by Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank with President Donald Trump at the beginning of his second term.

The campus has faced opposition from local residents and environmental groups. It also became part of political disputes ahead of the midterm elections. Bloomberg reported that Oracle is running a public-outreach campaign in New Mexico to win support from project critics.

My read is that the force majeure notice is less a withdrawal signal than a financial hedge around an unusually exposed construction schedule. Oracle can say the plan is intact while preserving room to move payments if the dependencies beneath that plan fail.

What I’d want to know is how much schedule flexibility the project really has once gas delivery, the air permit and local opposition are considered together. The announcement is quiet on that point, leaving the 2028 date supported by confidence but still dependent on infrastructure that is not ready.