Oracle sent a force majeure notice on its Project Jupiter data center in New Mexico after regulators blocked key natural-gas permits, and its shares fell alongside those of developer Blue Owl Capital. Oracle says the project remains on schedule, while Blue Owl says its financial commitments haven't changed.
Oracle's stock fell in morning trading on Thursday after Bloomberg reported the company is moving to shield itself from data-center costs if the New Mexico site doesn't reach capacity as planned in 2028.
Shares slide on the force majeure report
Oracle shares fell 4% on Thursday after the company sent a "force majeure" notice tied to the New Mexico project to a unit of Blue Owl Capital, the site's developer. Blue Owl's own shares also declined on the news. Coinpedia reported that Oracle fell as much as 5.4% premarket before settling around a 3% drop, while Bloom Energy, which supplies fuel cells for the site, slid 5 to 6%.
Regulators stall a 1,400-acre AI buildout
The project, dubbed Project Jupiter, spans 1,400 acres and is designed to run 2.5 gigawatts of Bloom Energy fuel cells for Oracle Cloud workloads tied to OpenAI's Stargate buildout. New Mexico regulators have repeatedly blocked key natural gas permits for the site, and local and environmental groups have raised concerns over its energy use and emissions. The data center is part of the broader Stargate artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout, and has faced local opposition ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Companies say commitments stand
Oracle told CNBC: "We are fully committed to New Mexico and confident in our path forward." The company said Project Jupiter remains on its planned schedule, even as it seeks to delay payment on the campus if it doesn't come online as expected in 2028. Blue Owl Capital said the notice doesn't change its financial commitments to the multi-year project.
Concerns have also mounted over Oracle's $18 billion in debt tied to the data center, which is already trading at stressed levels, according to a Financial Times report cited by CNBC.
Sources: MarketWatch.com (snippet-based), CNBC, Coinpedia
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