Ha ha. This IS cutting it in half. Do you want the long version? I reviewed and edited a few hundred highly technical R&D reports in my last10+ years, so I understand brevity and content. The above posting of mine has too many topics in one posting and the intent on providing specific detail for the laymen to better understand in case they are still struggling with their decision.
This may be too long for you, but others want more detail. This is geared for the novice to understand. Anyway there won't be much more. This deal is about done.
I remember some West Texas wells where we drilled into a carvern. Exactly as you described.
Bypass vs. Sidetrack. YOu must not have worked the GoM. These are descriptor terms defined by BOEM in the Federal Register and used by all companies that operate there to properly categorize their wells Bypasses result due to hole problems. The target remains the same. Sidetracks are usually intentional to take an existing borehole to a new target and are common in exploration wells, but sometimes result due to hole problems, necessitating a different target box. Sidetrack also is generically (and incorrectly) used to describe both cases by those that aren't familiar with these definitions. What TOT and IOC are doing is mostly like a bypass because TD in the status report has not changed. I don't know what regulations in PNG (if any) require for well descriptors.
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Kaliboo , con respecto, I don't think you do understand brevity and content. Extraneous stuff not relevant to the thought is not "detail", it's verbal diarhea. If you think a laymen/novice is illuminated, you're living in a professorial dream. Or tell it to my wife. As the Emperor said to Mozart, "too many notes".
You're right, I never worked the Gulf of Mexico. I was reponsible for exploration in PNG, Peru, and Nigeria, to name a few. I wasn't disputing the use of the term "bypass", in fact it's a good distinction, it just wasn't something I ever heard in my company,(although, obviously, we had major GOM holdings).