The sidetrack was a mandatory requirement. i.e they had to do it.
You dont keep going down and down just because you are 300m away from TVD. If you want a sure fire way to blow a $35M well maybe you would continue. But ENI are not that stupid. They know from experience how to deal with high temp/high pressure environments.
These things are expensive from a risk and monetary perspective. It takes experience and a great deal of knowledge to get right.
The important takeout is: HOW AS OPERATORS DO WE MAINTAIN WELL INTEGRITY?
..and the answer to that was to side track in order to access the same section, but start the 9 5/8" casing higher than originally planned. This will stabilise activities in prep for a second drill into the lower sections. This is where the payload is.
NEN Price at posting:
33.2¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held