Oracle Uses Trucks to Deliver Compressed Natural Gas for AI Data Centers

Oracle is using trucks to deliver compressed natural gas to its AI data centers as a stopgap measure to avoid delays from pipeline infrastructure, according to Bloomberg on Oct. 8. The unusual power-supply approach has been implemented at a site near Salt Lake City, Utah, and in Shackelford County, Texas, where Oracle is building a campus for OpenAI.

In Salt Lake City, the trucking service has been provided by Certarus, a subsidiary of Superior Plus, and has supported the project for more than a year. The Texas site is being supplied by VoltaGrid LLC. Oracle said in a social media post that VoltaGrid found a cost-effective power solution to ensure customers could access Oracle Cloud Infrastructure capacity on time.

The most pressing situation involves the "Project Jupiter" data center in New Mexico. Originally scheduled to start operations in the summer of 2026, the project has been delayed to 2027 after pipeline operator Energy Transfer LP was forced to reroute its planned line following a rejection by state regulators. Oracle is now considering delivering compressed natural gas by truck so the facility can begin early operations before the pipeline is connected. In September, Oracle sent a force majeure notice to the project developer.

However, trucking gas is costly. East Daley Analytics estimates that delivered compressed natural gas costs about four times the price of pipeline natural gas. SemiAnalysis analyst Ellie Holbrook estimated that if trucks supplied 100 MW of power to Project Jupiter, that would only cover about 4% of the project's 2.45 GW planned capacity. Each large truck can only support about 40 minutes of electricity, requiring dozens of truck deliveries per day. Oracle shares fell 5.5% on Oct. 8, while partner Bloom Energy dropped more than 6%.