RE: So...? I disagree, I would've placed the word "can" in bold. Since a salt cap is a type of porous rock, it takes oil contact combined with time as well as, either a void of pressure or vacuum pressure in order for a collapse to occur. Since oil is heavier than gas, the oil should not come in contact with the salt cap unless they drilled into a lower portion of the trapped oil and missed the area of gas trapped somewhere in a nearby, higher elevation trap. This also would explain why they found so much trace benzene w/o the gas.
My opinion, for what it's worth, is that they likely hit a lower elevation plateau that is in a collapsed pocket of a substainally larger pool with a high pressure gas ceiling. This would explain the bubbly oil as they broke through as the larger pool was expanding and pushing the collapsed pocket. All they need do is break the pocket wall for the oil, or move over a little and get both the gas and the oil....
I apologize for rambling, but thank my gr. 11 geography teacher Lol!!