The only other choices were Thursday or Friday. Monday gives...

The only other choices were Thursday or Friday. Monday gives them 4 days.

They are dealing with a moment by moment situation.

My guess is they have commenced ignition operations and are tweaking settings to get sustained gas flow.

From my online research, sometimes it takes a few days to build-up enough thermal energy underground to achieve sustained combustion. And sometimes you need to re-drill the cavity, sometimes there is excess ground water, sometimes you need to charge the cavity with diesel - all sorts of tricks.

Success could happen at any moment - or not.

Hence, announce an extended suspension that gives them plenty of time.

However, if the reaction suddenly takes-off and delivers a good flare, they aren't going to just wait out the remainder of the suspension period.

IMO