Givot Olam’s Meged #5 Produces Oil

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May 31, 2010
Givot Olam Oil Exploration LP (TASE:GIVO.L) announced plans to frac (pumping special fluids into the well bore to create enough pressure to crack or fracture a target formation within the well) section 1 of the Meged 5 well near Rosh Ha’Ayin, Israel, in order to stimulate oil production. Company officials stated that the necessary equipment and team were already in Israel, and that it had begun the preliminary activity for the procedure.

On May 27 Givot announced that the production test in Section 1 of its Meged 5 well yielded 33 barrels of liquid over eight hours, without the aid of accelerants.

The previous week Givot released a detailed report for the production tests, including the timetable. The tests will be conducted in eight sections of the well over 60-80 days. Givot has promised to issue a detailed report on the number of barrels of oil flowing at each section and the length of time of the flow, but cautioned that no conclusion could be drawn from these figures and implored investors to wait for the conclusion of the tests.

Givot said, “The partnership wishes to reiterate that data of these kinds do not reflect the rate of flow from the well or its viability, which will only be determined after completion of the tests by the experts who will process and analyze the date obtained from each of the tests, which will be disclosed in separate immediate notices.”

Givot has apparently learned the lesson of the Zerah Oil And Gas Explorations LP (TASE: ZRAH) at its Tamrur Cliff 4 well. A gas flare from the well caused investors to rush to buy the share, sending it skyrocketing. The share later crashed on disappointing production tests results. Givot is seeking to avoid a similar experience.
Excerpted (with editing) from: http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000563138&fid=1725 and http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000562385&fid=1725.

A Biblical Treasure Hunt Part 6

(From “A Biblical Treasure Hunt, by Philip Mandelker)

(c) Rock Oil in Biblical Hebrew – “SHEMEN” or “NEFT”? - The question, though, still remains as to the nature of the apparently liquid treasure – “MEGED”: petroleum or water? Does the answer perhaps lie in the use of the word “SHEMEN” in the Blessing of Asher not only in a metaphorical sense referring to riches generically, but also in the literal sense of “SHEMEN ADAMA” – “earth oil” – or “SHEMEN AVANIM” – “stone oil”, petroleum, “rock oil”?

As noted, the common Hebrew word for petroleum is today “NEFT”. However, the word “NEFT” does not appear in the books of the Hebrew scriptures. The first appearance of the word “NEFT” in Hebrew literature is in “Tosephta Shabbat” (2:3) in a discussion of what oils are permitted to be used in lighting Sabbath candles. (The Tosephta are Rabbinic works composed in the early Mishnaic period in the last centuries Before the Common Era [B.C.E. = B.C.]). – Interestingly, “NEFT” or petroleum is permitted for use in Sabbath candles, while there is a dispute as to whether “ZEFET” or tar may be used – “ZEFET” frequently deemed to be ritually unclean, a condition not attributed to “NEFT”. (It should also be noted that a possible reading of the final version of the Tosephta as appears in Mishna Shabbath 2:2 (3rd Century of the Common Era) is that, rather than being a product wholly distinct from “SHEMEN”, “NEFT” is one of the several sub-categories of “SHEMEN” that are discussed: “and the sages permit all the oils with sesame oil with nut oil etc. with resin and with petroleum.”

The fact that the word “NEFT” does not appear in the Hebrew scriptures should come as no surprise since “NEFT” was originally a Persian word which in all likelihood was introduced into the Hebrew language with the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon during the first Persian domination of the Land of Israel in the period described in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. (See, II Maccabees 1:36 [E.J. Goodspeed, The Apocrypha – An American Translation, Random House, New York, 1959]: “Nehemiah’s people called this Nephtar, …; but most people call it Nephtai.” Both the Greeks and Arameans also adapted the Persian word “neft” for their word for petroleum – “naphtha”.)

What then was the Hebrew word, if any, used in the pre-Persian period for petroleum or “rock oil”? For an answer to this, we perhaps need look only as far as the Moses’ Song of Praise which appears in chapter 32 of Deuteronomy immediately preceding chapter 33 in which the Blessings of Joseph and Asher appear. There, Moses, in praising the bounty of the land of Israel, describes one of its attributes as a place where the People of Israel will “suck … oil out of the flinty rock” (“YA’NIKEIHU . . . SHEMEN MEI-HALAMISH TZUR” – (Deut. 32:13). The Hebrew word used in this passage is “SHEMEN” – the same word that appears in the Blessing of Asher. The context in which the word “SHEMEN” appears in the Song of Praise can understandably lead to the conclusion that “rock oil” or petroleum is meant and that in Biblical times, the word “SHEMEN” may have referred also to “stone oil” or “earth oil” – “SHEMEN AVANIM” or “SHEMEN ADAMA” (the terms used by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and other modern Hebrew lexicographers and educators since at least the 19th Century) – as well as to vegetable and animals oils – just as in current English usage the word “oil” refers generically to vegetable, animal and mineral, including “rock”, oils. Indeed, the appearance throughout Israel of patches oil shales (“PITZELEI SHEMEN” in modern Hebrew) and bituminous chalk deposits interbedded with flintlike or flinty rock (chert or, in Hebrew, “HALAMISH TZUR” – the phrase used in the Song of Praise) deposits appears to support that conclusion (see footnote 7 below) – The word “SHEMEN” is also used in describing a natural excretion of stone in Job 29:6: “… and the rock poured me out rivers of oil” – “V’TZUR YATZOUK I’MADI PALGEI-SHAMEN”. Note that again in Job the word for rock is “TZUR”, the same word used in the Song of Praise, notwithstanding the existence of many other words for “rock” in Hebrew.

At this point it should be noted that the Hebrew word “SHEMEN” originates in the Akkadian (ancient Babylonian) word “ŠAMNU” or “SHAMAN” – meaning a thick, viscous liquid – and is a cognate of similar words used in ancient Semitic languages throughout the Middle East. (See, Ben-Yehuda, vol. XV, p. 7254 n.1, and Even-Shoshan at “SHMN”). Interestingly, Akkadian (and neighboring Assyrian) also had a word for petroleum, indeed two compound words, both of which were based on the word “šamnu”: specifically “šaman-iddî” and “šaman-šadî”. The first means literally “oil of asphalt” and the second “oil of the mountain”. (See, Forbes, R.J., Bitumen and Petroleum in Antiquity” [Brill, Leiden, 1936] [“Petroleum in Antiquity”], at p. 7 and Table I.) The development of both of these terms makes eminently good sense given the major asphalt and tar resources found in the region and extensively used by the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians, as well as the many liquid oil seeps in the mountains of Kurdistan lying in Assyria north of Babylon and, to a lesser extent, on the plains of the Euphrates to Babylon’s northwest, all of which were well known in antiquity. Assuming that Forbes is correct in his lexicographic and etymologic references – and there seems no reason to doubt them – it is clear that the root word “SHMN” or ŠMN was used by the Semitic speaking peoples of the ancient Middle East to include petroleum – the “rock oil” of the Romans and the “stone oil” or “earth oil” of the modern Hebrew lexicographers. What reason then for the Song of Praise’s reference to “oil out of flinty rock” and Job’s “rock poured … rivers of oil” not to be references to petroleum? The relevant texts were all written in approximately the same period.

7 The Land of Israel has large quantities of oil shales (“PITZLEI SHEMEN” in modern Hebrew), oil suffused rock, lying in thick surface strata in the hills of Bet Shemesh southwest of Jerusalem, mid-way between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean coast, and in the desert plateau of Mishor Rotem overlooking the Dead Sea. Several attempts over the past twenty-five years have been made to extract oil from these shales. These attempts have had very limited success, among other reasons because of the relatively poor quality (low organic content) of the rock and high costs of production. (Efforts to produce these shales have recently been renewed by Lapidoth-Heletz, L.P., an Israeli petroleum exploration company using a new Russian in situ production technology.) Some geologists are of the opinion that the Mishor Rotem shales and shales buried under the Dead Sea are the source of the oil and tar seeps in the Dead Sea area.
Interestingly, underlying these oil shales and bituminous chalk deposits which are also located throughout the Negev plateau are chert beds of the Senonian (Upper Cretaceous) age. To the north, the chert beds pass laterally into patches of highly bituminous (10-20% organic matter) chalk deposits located throughout the Land of the Shefala, the Sharon Plain, the Galilee and the Jordan Valley. Outcrops of these bituminous chalk-chert interbeddings appear at several sites in the Lower and Western Galilee and in the Jordan Valley. Surface deposits of bituminous limestones with organic content as high as 25% have been found near Hammath and Tiberias in the valleys of the Jordan River and its tributary the Yarmouk and on the high plains of Jordan above the eastern bank of the Jordan River and eastern shore of the Dead Sea. These deposits too are sometimes associated with chert beds. Forbes in Petroleum in Antiquity, at p. 25 (quoting Vitruvius, a Roman architect and engineer writing in the 1st Century BCE,) notes that it is possible that these deposits were known in antiquity.
In his Black Gold in Israel, at pp. 29-3, Lavi describes the attempts to explore the Yarmouk deposits in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. These attempts had their origin in stories of local Bedouin of oil seeps and a burning hill covered with “NEFT” at Tel-el-Hamid. Based on this and similar petroleum sightings in the Yarmouk valley, the first attempt to drill an oil well was commenced in 1914 at Macarin in the Yarmouk Valley, about 24 km (13 mi.) east of the Sea of Galilee. According to Lavi, the well was never completed and its findings were in dispute. During World War I, German engineers exploited bituminous shales containing crude oil in the Macarin area for the Hijazi trains. H. Michelson, “Geological Survey of the Golan Heights (With Some Remarks on Exploration for Hydrocarbons” (TAHAL Hydrology Division, 1982), at p. 13 and the works cited there.
In 1982, a water well was drilled at Ein Said on the northern bank of the Yarmouk some 6 kilometers (4 miles) northeast of Hammat – 17 kilometers west of the Macarin well and 7 kilometers east of the Sea of Galilee. Unexpectedly, this well encountered several sections of rich bituminous chalks containing liquid hydrocarbons. These sections, which contained chert sills, were found at depths between 500 – 900 meters (1,600 – 3,000 ft.) Id.., at Fig. 1 and pp. 6, 12-14.
As noted above at page 20, the Hebrew word for chert, a flintlike rock, is “HALAMISH”, one of the two words in the phrase appearing in the Song of Praise’s reference to the source of the “oil” to come from “the flinty rock” – “SHEMEN MEI-HALAMISH TZUR”. The other word in the verse, “TZUR”, means rock generically and, in certain contexts, is also used specifically as a variant of the word “TZOR” which is the Hebrew word for flint. It should be noted too that, as can be seen on the Map, the Yarmouk River was the southern boundary of the territories of Menasseh east of the Jordan.
Historically, oil shales, bituminous chalks and marls, and bituminous limestones (with organic content ranging from 4% to 20% and even up to 25%) were known as rockasphalts. Outcrops and surface deposits of rockasphalts occur throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean. They are known to exist in Syria, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Kouweit, Bahrain, Albania and Sicily, as well as in Israel and Jordan. Many of these deposits were known in classical times. Forbes, Petroleum in Antiquity, at pp. 18-30. And according to Forbes, methods to produce bitumens (semi-solid and viscous hydrocarbons) from rockasphalts were known in antiquity and classical times, with vases of asphalts produced from rockasphalt found by archaeologists in the ancient Persian city of Susa, and references to the process in the works of Aetius of Amida, the 6th Century Byzantine physician, and al-Ma’sudi, the 10th Century Arab historian. Id., at pp. 37-39

A Biblical Treasure Hunt Part 5

(From “A Biblical Treasure Hunt, by Philip Mandelker)

(iii) The Treasure: Water or Petroleum? or Both?

(a) “MEGED” – Water or Oil? - The traditional answer to this question has been water. The Radak (R. David Kimhi) suggested as much in the 12th Century in his commentary on Genesis 49:25

(“Radak Commentaries”, at p. 209). Rabbi Sa’adia Gaon, the leading rabbi and scholar of the 10th Century and founder of the great Academy at Sura in Iraq, appears to agree. (Kapach, Y., ed., Commentaries of Rabbeinu Sa’adia Gaon on The Torah (Mosad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem, 1963) [“Rasag Commentaries”], at p.154.) In both these cases, the reasoning appears to be grounded in the references in the Joseph Blessings to TEHOM which, as discussed above, is associated with underground water.

Nor, indeed, should this conclusion come as any surprise. The southern foothills of the Carmel range just north of Wadi Ara, located in the northern portion of the Lands of Manasseh and today known as Ramot Menasseh – the Manasseh Hills – are among the most fertile lands in Israel, blessed with a great number of natural springs. The cause lies in the fact that underlying Ramot Menasseh are two fresh water aquifers – the Mountain Aquifer carbonates of late Cretaceous age and the overlying local Ovdat Group Aquifer of the more recent Eocene age. Most of Israel benefits from only one or rarely two aquifers; so with its two aquifers, the Ramot Menasseh region in the north of the Lands of Joseph is, indeed, blessed with precious subterranean sweet waters.

However, there is a clue in the Blessings of Joseph which could support a conclusion that the “precious thing” is or is also petroleum. This clue can be found in the multiple references to the treasure lying in “eternal” and “ancient mountains” and in “everlasting” and “primordial hills”. One of the first things one looks for in exploring for petroleum is “ancient” anticlines (as the Umm el-Fahm anticline, see the Geographical Note at The Map, above) and buried structural highs. Anticlines and structural highs are geological terms for mountains and hills now typically lying deep under ground, but which had been mountains and hills on the earth’s surface in “primordial” ages tens and hundreds of millions of years ago. Interestingly, in these anticlines one frequently finds both oil and water, with the oil, being lighter than water, lying on top of the water – though sometimes the oil and water bearing strata are interspersed. But at the relevant depths the water is almost always salt water, the sweet waters of the aquifers feeding the springs of the Ramot Menasseh and other sweet water springs and wells around the world usually running in more recent geological strata which overlie the oil bearing strata and so, being closer to the earth’s surface, are more readily accessible to man.

As noted, in the dry Land of Israel, these sweet waters are indeed precious blessings; but are they the only precious liquids referred to in the Blessings of Joseph? Specifically, they may be “precious things of earth”, but not necessarily the “precious things” of the “deep [TEHOM] that couches beneath”. Rather, those deep or rather deeper blessings may be the precious things that lie on top of the salt water of Tiamat, the goddess of whose skin and bones the earth was made with the purpose of ensuring that the subterranean salt waters not escape. And these deeper precious things, lying just on top of the abysmal salt waters, may just be (rock) oil.

(b) “SHEMEN” – Olive Oil or Rock Oil? - For the next clue, we turn again to the Blessing of Asher which refers specifically to “oil”. The Hebrew word for “oil” as it appears in the Blessing is “SHEMEN”. Any speaker of modern Hebrew will tell you that “SHEMEN” means vegetable oil, particularly olive oil, but can also mean oils extracted from animal fats. He will very likely point out, however, that it does not mean “rock oil” or petroleum, for which he will say a wholly distinct word exists: “NEFT”.

Even in modern Hebrew, however, petroleum based lubricants are referred to by the word “SHEMEN” and oil shales, rocks suffused with hydrocarbons from which oil can be extracted by various treatment processes, mining and retorting and in situ heating, are known as “PITZLEI SHEMEN”. Unabridged dictionaries of modern Hebrew go even further and reveal that one of the uses of the word “SHEMEN” is in the term “SHEMEN ADAMA” or “earth oil”, which is defined as “a type of oil which is taken out of the earth and is used for burning; . . . petroleum.” See Gur, Y., Milon Ivri (1946) and Even-Shoshan, A., Ha’Milon Ha’Hadash (Kiryat Sefer, Jerusalem, 1979) (“Even-Shoshan”). In his groundbreaking lexicon of the Hebrew language, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, uses the term “SHEMEN ADAMA” in his definition of “NEFT”: “this is SHEMEN ADAMA, a form of liquid which flows out of the ground and even spouts up, and is used for light and heat, Naphta; . . .” Ben-Yehuda, E., A Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew (Yoseloff, New York – London) (“Ben-Yehuda”), vol. VIII, p. 3719. But more importantly, in his long entry for the word SHEMEN, along with reference to the term “SHEMEN ZAYIT” (“olive oil”), Ben-Yehuda refers to the terms “SHEMEN AVANIM” and “SHEMEN AVNI” – forms which mean “stone oil” or “mineral oil”). In his discussion of the term “SHEMEN AVANIM”, Ben-Yehuda states “of the first type are NEFT (naphtha), stone oil (stein öl)”. Ben Yehuda, vol. XV, p. 7258.2 So we find in Hebrew an accepted use of the word “SHEMEN” in the form of “SHEMEN ADAMA” or “earth oil” 3 and in the form of “SHEMEN AVANIM” or “stone oil” for petroleum, just as in Latin where “PETROLEUM” is “rock oil”.

But true to customary usage, the typical speaker of modern Hebrew will nonetheless, in all likelihood, persist in saying that the reference in the Asher Blessing to “oil” means quite literally “olive oil” and has nothing to do with petroleum. And he will rightly add that the lands of Asher along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, as the lands of Manasseh to the south and east of Asher, were historically blessed with olive groves and known as a major source of olive oil; whereas there have been no commonly known petroleum fields in the region.

* * *

This persistence will be supported by the speaker’s knowledge that in Biblical times, olive oil was very valuable and had many uses – for cooking, illumination, medication and lubrication, among others. He will add that the best indication of the perceived value of olive oil is the fact that olive oil was used to anoint kings and high priests and that the word “SHEMEN” and its derivatives are used metaphorically in Hebrew to denote plenty, fullness, riches.

Following this line of thought, though, can lead us to the interesting conclusion that the reference in the Blessing of Asher to the “SHEMEN” in which Asher’s “foot” or southern territories is dipped need not necessarily be only a literal reference to “oil” whatever its source (in which kings and soldiers were wont in Biblical times to wash their feet before setting out on or on returning from a long journey – see commentary on Job 29:6 in “Olam Ha’Tanakh”, vol. “I’yov” [Job], at p. 159). Rather, such reference might also be a metaphoric reference to the precious things – “MEGED” is the word repeatedly used in Moses’ Blessing of the Tribes of Joseph – and bounty to be found couching in the deep beneath the lands of Menasseh on which the southern territories of Asher border and which are to flow to the surface out of Joseph’s well.

2 Use of “SHEMEN AVANIM” as the Hebrew term for petroleum or naphtha appears in “Raishit Limudim”, a scientific primer written in Hebrew by B.B. Linda and published in Berlin (Rossman) in 1878. The reference appears in a discussion of mineral and earth resins at p. 75, sec. 107.

3 “Earth oil” as a term for petroleum is common in petroleum producing provinces around the world. In Sumatra, Indonesia, where petroleum seeps have been known for centuries and where Royal Dutch-Shell had its first major discoveries at the end of the 19th Century, the term for petroleum is “miniac tennah” or “oil from the earth”. Forbes, R.T., Studies in Early Petroleum History (Brill, Leiden, 1953) (“Early Petroleum History”) at pp. 111 and 172-173 (quoting P.S. Boccone, Museo di Fisica [Venezia, 1697].) – In Burmah, a tributary of the Irawaddy River along which oil seeps have also been known for centuries, is known as Yenangyoung or Earth-Oil Creek. Forbes, Early Petroleum History, at p. 169 (quoting M.A. Symex, An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom as Ava, sent by the Governor-General of India in the year 1795). It was near Earth Oil Creek that Burmah Oil, forerunner of British Petroleum, got its start at the end of the 19th Century.

Zion Oil Gets License Extensions

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Dallas, Texas and Caesarea, Israel – May 18, 2010 – Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (NASDAQ GM: ZN) reported today that the Israeli Petroleum Commissioner has awarded the company a one-year extension on each of its petroleum exploration licenses, the Joseph License and the Asher-Menashe License.

Zion’s “Asher-Menashe License” covers an area of approximately 78,824 acres located on the Israeli coastal plain and the Mt. Carmel range between Caesarea in the south and Haifa in the north. The Asher-Menashe License had an initial three-year term, from June 10, 2007 to June 9, 2010. On May 17, 2010, Zion received notification from the Israeli Petroleum Commissioner extending the term of the Asher-Menashe License until June 9, 2011.

Zion’s “Joseph License” covers approximately 83,272 acres on the Israeli coastal plain south of the Asher-Menashe License between Caesarea in the north and Netanya in the south. The Joseph License had an initial three-year term, from October 11, 2007 to October 10, 2010. On April 22, 2010, Zion received notification from the Israeli Petroleum Commissioner extending the term of the Joseph License until October 10, 2011.

Richard Rinberg, Zion’s Chief Executive Officer, commented that, “In 2010, we plan to drill a new well, the Ma’anit-Joseph #3 well, on our Joseph License and also acquire new field seismic on both our Asher-Menashe License and our Issachar-Zebulun Permit. We remain excited about the possibility of recovering hydrocarbons on our license and permit areas, onshore Israel, especially due to the U.S. Geological Survey report, published in April 2010, containing their assessment that there may be 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable undiscovered oil and 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in the Levant Basin, as all of Zion’s exploration rights fall within the area of the Levant Basin.”

Zion’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “ZN” and Zion’s warrants trade under the symbol “ZNWAW”.

Zion Oil & Gas, a Delaware corporation, explores for oil and gas in Israel in areas located on-shore between Haifa and Tel Aviv. It currently holds two petroleum exploration licenses, the Joseph and the Asher-Menashe Licenses, between Netanya, in the south, and Haifa, in the north, covering a total of approximately 162,000 acres and the Issachar-Zebulun Permit Area, adjacent to and to the east of Zion’s Asher-Menashe license area, covering approximately 165,000 acres. Zion’s total petroleum exploration rights area is approximately 327,000 acres.

Israel Considers Upping Oil & Gas Royalties

US pressures Israel over potential change in oil, gas tax policy

Jerusalem (Platts)–21May2010/638 am EDT/1038 GMT

The US has expressed concern about a possible change in Israel’s tax policy for the upstream oil and natural gas sector, with White House officials and US senators having brought the matter up with the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to sources from both countries.

The Israeli finance ministry last month announced the establishment of a committee to study various options, including raising taxes and royalties. The current level of royalties is 12.5%.

The concern is that a change in tax policy would affect US company Noble Energy, which is involved in the Tamar and Dalit discoveries off Israel’s northern Mediterranean coast, the sources said.

The committee will present its recommendations to the ministry by August.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has put pressure on the finance, national infrastructure and justice ministries to limit the scope of the committee to deal solely with future licenses and not existing ones.

But the sources said a particular concern is that finance minister Yuval Steinitz did not state clearly that the committee would refrain from discussing retroactively increasing royalties on current leases and natural gas discoveries, including Tamar.

According to Israeli press reports, a senior US diplomat based in Tel Aviv wrote a letter to the finance minister warning that unless current leases and licenses are exempt from the scope of the committee’s recommendations, it could be undermine confidence in the stability of Israeli fiscal policy and deter international investment.

Finance minister Steinitz said at the time of the establishment of the committee that the substantial discoveries of natural gas and the possibility of future finds require the Israeli government to review its fiscal policy, which was implemented back in 1952, to determine whether it is still suitable.

He said the committee would study all aspects related to the taxation of the oil and gas exploration industry and compare it with that of other Western countries.

The finance minister said it would be up to the committee to propose a fiscal policy for the oil and gas industry for the future.

The committee will be headed by Hebrew University economist Eytan Shishinsky and will include government officials.

In March, Noble Energy chairman and CEO Charles Davidson said he hoped that the Israeli government would not change its current policy.

“This would be a great mistake and send the wrong message to exploration companies,” Davidson said.

He noted that it would lead to higher costs at a time when oil and gas exploration in Israel is still in its infancy.

In February, the Knesset (parliamentary) economics committee began hearings on changing the country’s oil law in order to increase royalties paid to the state from oil and gas discoveries.

Knesset member Carmel Shama of the ruling Likud party said he planned to present an amendment to the current law aimed at increasing the participation of the state in the revenues of gas producers, but said it would not affect existing licenses.
–Neal Sandler, newsdesk@platts.com

Bontan Raises $7.5 Million for Israel Exploration

Source: RigZone

Bontan has closed its previously announced non brokered private placement financing, pursuant to which it has issued 37,750,000 Units at a price of US $0.20 per Unit to raise aggregate gross proceeds of US $7,550,000. Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one five-year term purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to acquire one additional common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.35 per share. There is a call provision should the closing price of the Company’s common shares exceed US $1.00 for 20 consecutive business days. All securities issued in the financing are subject to a statutory hold period.

Certain proceeds from the offering have been used with respect to the Company’s 11% net working interest in the two drilling licenses in offshore Israel: Sarah and Myra. The Company’s ownership of theses licenses is held through its 76.8% owned subsidiary: Israel Petroleum.

The Company reported that all seismic data relating to the two licenses have now been fully acquired from Western Geco International Ltd, a Schlumberger group company, who were paid the balance of their fees of US$ 10.5 million. All of the seismic data is now being processed.

Bontan also reported that it is preparing an application to list on the Canadian National Stock Exchange. The CNSX is an innovative new stock exchange for trading the securities of public companies. The Company must meet all requirements of the Exchange prior to any approval.

Kam Shah, CEO of Bontan, commented, “We are very pleased with the progress our Company has made over the last seven months. We have met all of our financial obligations in relation to the offshore Israeli project and look forward to further developmental activities in both the Sarah and Myra licenses. We have received tremendous support from our existing shareholders as well as from new sophisticated investors who participated in our recent private placement. The recent reports from the US Geological Survey indicating that there are some 1.7 Billion barrels of recoverable oil and 122 Trillion cubic feet of gas in the 83000 square kilometer Levant Basin Province augurs well for our project. In addition the fact that the offshore area has also recently attracted the attention of various energy giants including Gazprom, bodes extremely well for our project. Identifying an international driller and operator will enable us and our joint venture partners to proceed with the plans to drill in both the licenses. It should be a very exciting year ahead for our company.

About the Project Area

The Offshore Israel Project comprises two Licenses – Sarah and Myra – covering approximately 310 square miles and is located in the Levantine Basin near the recent 6.3 TCF Tamar 1, Tamar 2, and the Dalit natural gas discoveries by Noble Energy Inc.

Noble Energy to be honored for Israel gas discoveries

Source: Jewish Herald Voice

Houston-based Noble Energy will be honored at a tribute dinner Sunday evening, May 23, at the Westin Galleria Hotel for its discovery of significant natural gas resources off the coast of Haifa – discoveries that will have “profoundly positive” benefits for the State of Israel. Leon Mucasey, general chairman, Houston Committee State of Israel Bonds, made the announcement with Fred Zeidman, Texas chairman, State of Israel Bonds. On this occasion, the energy company’s chairman and CEO Charles D. “Chuck” Davidson will accept the State of Israel Bonds Declaration of Independence Award on behalf of Noble Energy.

“The natural gas discoveries Noble Energy and its Israeli partners have made have profoundly changed the State of Israel’s security situation for the better,” Mucasey stated. “These natural gas discoveries are believed to be big enough to supply Israel’s energy needs for at least two decades or more, so that Israel will no longer have to be dependent on imported oil. The Declaration of Independence Award is a truly appropriate award to bestow upon Noble Energy, as it has put Israel on the road to energy independence,” Mucasey concluded.

The culmination of years of significant study of a previously, highly underexplored region, and of investment, the Tamar discovery was drilled by Noble Energy and its Israeli partners Isramco Negev 2, Delek Drilling, Avner Oil Exploration and Dor Gas.

It was drilled in the Matan License, offshore Israel, in approximately 5,500 feet of water and was drilled to a total depth of 16,076 feet to test a lower Miocene subsalt structure in the Levantine Basin. It was characterized by Davidson as “one of the most significant prospects we have ever tested,” and as “the largest discovery in the company’s history.”

Further testing and appraisal of the discovery has identified natural gas resources of 6.3 trillion cubic feet, enough to supply Israel’s energy needs for at least two decades or more. Noble Energy and its partners are moving forward with plans to bring first production from Tamar to Israel by 2012.

A publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Noble Energy is a leading independent energy company, which has been engaged in the exploration and production of oil and gas since 1932. The company operates primarily in the Rocky Mountains, Mid-Continent and deepwater Gulf of Mexico areas in the United States, with key international locations in Equatorial Guinea and Israel.

The State of Israel Bonds tribute to Noble Energy will begin with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the formal program at 7 p.m. Dietary laws will be observed. Dress is business attire.

An RSVP is required. For information, call State of Israel Bonds Texas Headquarters at 713-729-3100 or 800-676-3101.

A Biblical Treasure Hunt Part 4

(From “A Biblical Treasure Hunt, by Philip Mandelker)

III. A POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION OF THE BLESSINGS IN THE HUNT FOR PETROLEUM (ROCK OIL) IN ISRAEL

1. The Blessings of Joseph and of the Tribes of Joseph (Manasseh and Ephraim) mention their “land” as being blessed with “blessings”, “bounties”, “chief things” and “precious things” lying deep underground in “ancient mountains” and “primordial hills”. It is also said that these “blessings” shall be on “the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of [Joseph].” Finally, the Blessings compare Joseph to a fruitful tree “by a well.”

2. Two questions arise: (i) what are the precious things lying deep underground? and (ii) under what part of the lands of Joseph do these precious things lie?

3. Initial clues to possible answers to both of these questions appear in the Blessings of Joseph; additional clues appear in the Blessing of Asher and the Song of Praise.

(i) The Location:

The Joseph Blessings in both Genesis and Deuteronomy talk of the blessings coming “upon the head of Joseph and the top of the head of [Joseph].” The Hebrew word for “head” is “ROSH”. In Hebrew, when talking geographically and topographically, “ROSH” can mean the upper or higher area, thus the northern area, in the same way as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern part of that state. The Hebrew word for “crown of the head” – “KODKOD” – also can have a geographical/topographical connotation meaning highest part or crest.

Looking at the map, we can see that the lands of Joseph’s son Manasseh are in the northern part of the lands of Joseph, north of the lands of Ephraim, thus in the “ROSH” or “head” of the territories of Joseph. The reference to the “KODKOD” or “crown of the head” then points us to the upper or northern portions of the lands of Menasseh.

But we can see from the map that the lands of Manasseh stretch all the way from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River and parts of the Tribe of Manasseh occupied lands east of the Jordan River. Where in this wide stretch of territory do we begin our search?

Let us start with the Blessing of Asher who “dips his foot in oil”. The word “foot” in Hebrew is “REGEL” and, again, “REGEL” also has a geographical and topographical meaning. Specifically, it means the lower portion of an area, i.e. the southern portion of an elongated territory running on a north – south axis, in the same way again as Michigan’s Lower Peninsula is the southern portion of that state. (And, of course, there is always the Puglian “heel” and Calabrian “toe” of the “boot” of Italy) Assuming for a moment that the “precious thing” and the “bounty” refer to “oil”, we note that the blessing does not say that the precious thing is in the “foot of Asher”, rather it says that Asher “dips” his foot into the oil. Again looking at the map, we see that the southern portion of the lands of Asher touch on and, indeed, extend into the western side of the lands of Manasseh, west and south of the Carmel range.

We thus appear to have a geographical marker as to where the search might begin: the western side of the northern parts of the lands of Manasseh near that part of the southern portion of the lands of Asher which extend into the lands of Manasseh. Interestingly, this is also the area through which Wadi Ara runs, the inferred fault which divides the Carmel range to the north and the Plain of Sharon and Samarian hills (including the Umm el-Fahm anticline) to the south. (See the Geographical Note to the Map above.)

As noted in the Cartographical Note to the Map, some biblical scholars are of the opinion that the southern border between the lands of Asher and Manasseh is the Kishon Stream that flows in the plain along the hills flanking Mt. Carmel to the north-east, with the Carmel range lying wholly within the lands of Manasseh. Even in this case, though, the southern portion of the lands of Asher “dips” into the northern portions of Manasseh.

(ii) The Treasure: Hard Mineral or Liquid?

The Joseph Blessings talk generically of “precious things”, “chief things”, “bounty”, “fullness” and “blessings” lying in “ancient mountains” and “primordial hills” deep underground. But what are these “precious things”? Gold? Silver? Diamonds? Coal? Iron? Uranium? Water (which in the thirsty Land of Israel is certainly a treasure)? Petroleum (which derives from the Latin “petrus” meaning rock and “oleum” meaning oil – in other words “rock oil”)? Or perhaps some other mineral or liquid treasure.

Not surprisingly, this question was raised as early as the 12th Century by the biblical scholar and grammarian Rabbi David Kimhi (the Radak) who lived in the Provence, France. In his commentary on the Blessing of Joseph in Genesis, the Radak talks of subterranean waters; while in his commentary on the Blessing in Deuteronomy, in discussing “MEGED” – “precious things” – he raises the possibility of gold or silver or other precious metals, at the same time also referring to waters in his discussion of the reference to “TEHOM” which follows the verse’s first reference to “MEGED” and precedes the second reference to “MEGED”. (Kamelhar, M., ed., Commentaries of Rabbi David Kimhi on the Torah (Mosad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem, 1970) [“Radak Commentaries”], at pp. 209 and 288.)

The first clue to answering this question can be found in Jacob’s blessing of Joseph in Genesis which at 49:22 refers to the fruitfulness of Joseph lying “by a well”. A “well” can be a cistern dug into the ground to be filled with rainwaters or waters (or other liquids) brought by aqueduct from afar. Or it can be a well dug to an underground source of naturally flowing liquids, as an artesian well. The Hebrew word used in the Blessing is “A’YIN”. “A’YIN” in Hebrew means a naturally flowing spring or fountain; this as differentiated from “BE’ER” which is the Hebrew word for a well or cistern. (The Revised Standard Version properly uses “spring” in translating “A’YIN” in verse 22.) Thus, from his Blessing in Genesis, one can conclude that the fruitfulness of Joseph’s lands will flow naturally from an underground source. If correct, this would seem to rule out the underground treasures being hard metals or minerals.

This conclusion appears to be supported by the use of the words “TEHOM” and “ROVETZET” in one of the phrases (“the deep that couches beneath”) that appears in both of the Joseph Blessings and is used to describe the location of the treasures in relation to the surface of “the land” of Joseph – above, on or below. “TEHOM” principally denotes particularly deep waters, as well as subterranean waters, and is only derivatively used to denote an abyss. “ROVETZET” is a word used to describe an animal lying recumbent, ready to pounce when cause is given, a condition similar to that of a liquid lying pressurized deep underground ready to spring/flow upwards when the pressure is released by drilling a well into the reservoir. – Interestingly, use of analogies from the animal world to the world of petroleum continues through the ages. For example, the legal regime applying to ownership rights in underground petroleum reserves which can flow from under the property of one person to that of another is strongly influenced by the medieval English “law of capture” that governed the rights to wild animals which roamed at will from the lands and forests of one landowner to those of another, something which neither forest trees nor hard mineral mines did or could do. And, of course, “wildcat” is the term used for a high risk exploration well. (In Talmudic times, the root word “RAVOTZ” was used also to denote the act of sprinkling water. Babylonian Talmud, “Tractate Shabbat” 95:1 – - ע הצ תבש ” א and the commentary of Rashi there, as discussed in Sefer Breishit [Genesis], vol. 3 [Mosad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem, 2003], at p. 328, “Da’at Mikra” commentaries to 49:27.)

The source of the Hebrew word TEHOM is the Babylonian TIAMAT. According to the ancient Mesopotamian creation story as told in the epic “Enuma Elis”, Tiamat was the primordial goddess of the salt waters. In the war with the younger gods – the offspring of Apsu (the primordial god of the sweet waters) and Tiamat – which led to the creation of the world, Tiamat was killed by Marduk, the champion of the younger gods. Marduk then stretched Tiamat’s carcass out over the waters and of it created the sky and the earth, commanding her carcass (now the earth) not to allow the salt waters, the waters of the deep, Tiamat’s original realm, to escape. (Pritchard, J. B., ed., The Ancient Near East – An Anthology of Texts and Pictures [Princeton, 1958], at pp. 31-35 [“Akkadian Myths and Epics, The Creation Epic”, Tablet IV, ll. 130-140].) “TEHOM” or TIAMAT also plays a role in the Biblical creation, Genesis 1:2 : “. . . and darkness was on the face of the deep [TEHOM]” – “םוהת ינפ לע ךשחו”. And then Genesis 1:6-7 tells us: “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide water from water. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament, and it was so.” See “Olam Ha’Tanakh”, vol. “Breishit” [Genesis], at pp. 13-14 (discussion at “Early Creation Stories”) and pp. 17 – 18 (discussion at Genesis 1:2 – “TEHOM”).

The story of Tiamat and the creation of the earth from her dead female body also appears relevant for the present purposes when we recall the reference in Jacob’s Blessing in Genesis to “the blessings of the breasts and of the womb” immediately following the references to “the blessings of the deep [TEHOM] that couches beneath.”

* * *

But the question remains, are the riches referred to in the Blessings of Joseph water or petroleum (rock oil)? Or perhaps both?

New Book by Zion Founder John Brown

The Oil of Israel: Prophecy Being Fulfilled, the first book by Zion Oil & Gas Founder John Brown telling the story of Brown’s vision to discover the “Oil of Israel” should be going to the printer this week, with copies available in  late May.

The Oil of Israel: Prophecy Being Fulfilled includes Brown’s personal testimony and the scriptures that led to the search for Israel’s oil and the founding of Zion Oil & Gas. Brown shares his insights on true biblical faith and the vision and calling of Zion Oil. The book includes the full color maps of Israel’s ancient tribal boundaries and of Zion’s license area as well Zion’s progress to date in the search for Israel’s oil.

Stockpickers Consider Zion Oil a “Buy”

It seems that the stock pickers are finally considering Zion Oil & Gas a “buy”. Remember, these guys aren’t interested in the vision, mission or the biblical foundation behind the company’s search for oil in Israel. They’re hard core (not entirely well informed about Zion Oil) stock analysts. And they’re saying “buy”.  Maybe they see something …

Small Cap Network

Finding Ways to Increase Shareholder Value

April 28, 2010. Next up this morning is Zion Oil & Gas Inc., (ZN) http://www.zionoil.com/ currently trading in the $6.73 range on a 3-Month average daily trading volume of 115,181 shares. ZN was trading in the $10 range a year ago. ZN had a very choppy 2009 with some ‘extreme’ dips and spikes, somewhat leveling out in autumn at $10, then nose-diving in mid-Oct to $7. ZN dipped to $5 in early-Feb and has traded between $5 and $6 this month. ZN has a 52-week high of $14.61 set on 06-26-09. ZN holds 2 exploration licenses, Asher-Menashe License and Joseph License, covering approximately 162,100 acres onshore in the state of Israel between Netanya in the south and Haifa in the north. That is the value here. At less than half of its 52-week high, ZN is a short-term (6 Mo) ‘Buy’ consideration for me. Here’s why: at some point in the next 6-Months ZN has to drop some new wells or make a deal with a 3^rd party to drill or start selling off parcels (that’s a lot of land). Actually beginning the process of producing oil would be a big boost to share value. If they just ‘sit’ on the land, they might as well start raising cattle or putting up wind farms.

This week ZN announced today it will be launching a rights offering. Holders of ZN common stock will be entitled to purchase additional shares of its common stock at a price of $5.00 per share. In the rights offering, stockholders as of 5:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight time on the record date of May 6, 2010, will be issued, at no charge, one-half (0.5) of a non-transferable subscription right for each share of common stock owned by the stockholder on the Record Date. This is equivalent to one (1) subscription right for every two (2) shares of common stock held by the stockholder on the Record Date. The rights offering will be conducted under an existing effective shelf registration statement.

ZN plans to use the proceeds from the rights offering: (a) to purchase a 51% interest in a new company (Zion Drilling, Inc. that will own a 2,000 horsepower drilling rig), and (b) to drill further ‘deep’ exploration wells on Zion’s licenses in Israel (in continuation of Zion’s oil and gas exploration efforts) and (c) for general corporate purposes.

The Motley Fool

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Divine inspiration
To develop into a real production company, Zion Oil & Gas will need a serious leap of faith. Zion is no oil sands driller, like Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU), which needed to wait until it became economically feasible to extract oil from an otherwise difficult location to make it to the big time. Zion has nearly a decade of experience of exploring for oil in Israel, but it still has no revenue or operating income to show for it.

Its vision is based on Biblical references to oil and natural gas existing in certain territories. But until it can prove that these resources do exist in sufficient quantities there, investors might want to focus instead on the “going concern” notice its auditor regularly files with the financial reports.

While johnsom3 believes “the science is proving the Scriptures,” doubter dubblebubbler says people also believe that “pro-wrestling isn’t fake.”

Zion doesn’t have an enviable track record, but 62% of CAPS members rating the exploration company believe it will outperform the market. Head on over to the Zion Oil & Gas CAPS page and divine your own opinion on its future.