Israel’s Chief Geologist Visits US Explorers

Last week, Israel’s chief geologist visited Houston based oil and gas explorer ATP’s Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling platform to see best offshore exploration practices for himself. Israel geologist Victor Bariudin made the trip to get an understanding of ATP’s safe and effective offshore drilling procedures and make a recommendation to his country’s Minister of National Infrastructures, Dr Uzi Landau. At the end of his drilling platform visit, Mr. Bariudin stated, “I will recommend to our minister and our staff that we use this method and to work with them.” ATP followed (also Houston based) Noble Energy into the exploration waters of offshore Israel and into the world’s largest natural gas discovery in more than a decade. Testing indicates that an offshore oil discovery isn’t far behind.

Israel’s expectation is that the recent gas discovery and the likely possibility of significant oil reserves will make the country energy independent and even an energy exporter. The economic impact of gas and oil production in Israel could be more profound to the nation’s GDP than any industry the country’s history.

Houston’s Fox affiliate captured Bariudin’s Gulf of Mexico drilling platform highlights in the video below.

Earlier this month Mr. Bariudin, Israeli Petroleum Commissioner, Dr. Michael Gardosh, and other Israeli officials visited with the managment of Zion Oil at Zion’s Caesarea, Israel offices. Zion holds the largest onshore exploration rights territory in Israel.

Letter from Israel

My Friend Steve Grable is on his third week touring the Land of Israel. He visited with the folks at Zion Oil & Gas and toured the Zion offices in Caesarea and the well site. I thought I’d share yesterday’s letter with you – it’s a good one.

Third Week’s Summary of being in the Land of Israel

Greetings Dear Saints,

Monday we departed for our journey north along highway 4 which extends from Tel Aviv up the coast with occasional glimpses of the Mediterranean.

Our game plan was to visit with Jody and Alyosha (which some of you know) in  Zichron Ya’akov which is close to Caesarea. Although they had made Aliyah a few years ago, they physically moved to the Land last December.

We were hoping to arrive at their place by 10AM however the Lord had different plans for us. Our GPS whom we affectionately refer to as Shalom (male voice) seems to move to the beat of a different drummer and wanted to take us in a different direction. We actually traveled beyond our intended turn off and being of the male persuasion, only with great reluctance did I stop to get directions. Ladies please do not be concerned; this is simply a male gene deficiency!

We drove in to a small town and spoke with two helpful Jewish gentlemen. Then like so many others have asked us “the two questions”, “where are you from and why are you here?’. It is not that they do not want us here; but rather they do not understand why Christians who live in America with so few security issues would actually pay to come and visit a Land that is going through such turmoil. Every time we are asked these two questions, we respond with the same heart, “We are here because we love the Jewish people and we love Israel. Each time, we see amazement in their faces. We then go on to let know that many Christians are praying for their safety and their prosperity. Yet there is more, we continually pray that the scales will fall from the Jewish eyes and each will have a personal encounter with Messiah Yeshua, Jesus.

After turning around and beginning our backtrack, it was required of us to go through an Israeli check point. We must remember that an Arab had just killed one man in Tel Aviv and injured 19 others when he drove his large truck through Jewish civilians who were simply doing their shopping. Such are the daily tragedies the Jewish people must endure all the while the world refuses to see this injustice.

We were asked by a very nice Jewish lady named Mahog to exit our car, open the hood, all doors and the trunk and remove all bags in which we complied. They were very thorough when doing their search and who can blame them? Just one distraught terrorist can bring such destruction. We were then instructed to empty pockets, and walk through metal detectors while our luggage was being examined.  At all times we were shown kindness and courtesy however they have a very important job and were quite serious in addressing the task at hand. I believe the Lord allowed us to see firsthand not only the process but also the tremendous waste of talented people in dealing with terrorism. Important to say that the Arab peoples are not singled out exclusively but Jewish people as well go through the same procedure. Suffice it to say, terrorism adversely affects the lives of everyone in the Land to a greater degree than any other country on the face of the earth.

After leaving the inspection, we gave a quick call to Jody and Alyosha knowing they had commitments in Jerusalem and had to leave. So after speaking with them it was decided to meet the following day. What was originally a disappointment at the time became a blessing in disguise. We then turned aside and investigated the beautiful town of Netanya.

Netanya translates to “gift of God”. We drove and the Holy Spirit who has continuously led us had not departed. We parked the car wanting to walk down to the Mediterranean shore. We could not have imagined the beauty we were about to partake. There is a cobblestone walkway that follows along the shore for some distance and we had managed to find this winding walkway within the waters edge.

We made our way towards a pavilion only to find a restaurant atop a one-hundred foot high cleft overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We were seated right on the overhanging portion of the dining room and had a delightful lunch. Just a mental note for those of you who think you may visit the Land. When you see different types of “toast” being offered on the menu, do not snub your nose. The toast they are referring is more like pitta bread which has been grilled and toasted, and then assaulted with an array of tasty veggies, humus, chicken, tuna or salmon, onions and other unknown goodies. I tell you a mystery, toast never tasted so good!

After lunch, we mounted our trusty stead ‘(Kia Rio) and headed for Haifa, the port city. This will be the place Zion Oil and Gas will move their oil to awaiting tankers for export to satisfy the thirsty nations.

I would like to take a moment to please advise any who read this report. Please consider purchasing Zion Oil shares represented as ZN or the Warrants as the symbol ZNWAZ. Either of these can be purchased through your Scottrade or personal broker on the NASDAQ.

From seeking the Lord in this with so many other Believers, I have absolute faith that God is about to present a “game changer” when Israel strikes oil. There will be a geopolitical shift that will shake the US, Europe and the Middle East. Israel will become independent and will begin to refuse the constant demands of the nations.  I will share more later on Zion Oil, but to those of you who love Israel and wish to both bless Israel and be blessed, become a part of Zion Oil and Gas as quickly as possible, believe this “find” will happen relatively soon.

After our visit to Haifa, we then went back south to the place Elijah the prophet was awaiting us, Mt Carmel. Remember the story? Mt Carmel is the spiritual equivalent of the OK Corral. There was a showdown of the righteous and the unrighteous. The prophet of God, Elijah and the false prophets of Ba’al and Ashe’rah. Both were expecting to display which god is God!  What an incredibly awesome place, sheer clefts that arose before us with winding roads reaching for the top of the mountain.

It was time for our excursion to end for the day and time to find a hotel in Caesarea.

Must share, Caesarea is spelled three ways. When spelled with a C, this is for us Gentiles. When it is spelled with a Q it is Jewish, when spelled with a K then is Arabic. If you are driving and using a GPS, you will discover that the map or someone’s address may be spelled one way and there may be a discrepancy of a letter or two. Yet, even if you are temporarily lost, every street and road is an adventure in the Land of God.

It was our intention to stay the night in Caesarea in order to be close to the Zion Oil offices for the next morning’s appointment. We found a beautiful hotel, the Caesarea Dan, an older but extremely well kept and nearly of luxurious status. Though the day had taken some twists and turns, all things worked for the good!

That evening in the Caesarea Dan hotel, John, Marie and I were in the restaurant and I observed a man two tables away and just knew he was associated with Zion Oil. So I summoned up the courage and walked over to his table and introduced myself and asked if he was involved with Zion to which he replied, “Yes, I am Bill Ottaviani.

Bill is the president and chief operating officer. During our conversation, mentioned we were scheduled to meet Stephen Pierce the next morning for a tour of the offices and then out to the well site. Bill was aware of our visit and all was prepared.

Prior to leaving on our Israeli expedition, I had exchanged emails with Ora the office manager of Zion Oil hdqts in Caesarea, she then passed to Stephen Pierce, Zion’s Oil exploration manager. Steve was terrific. He sat me in the seat next to him in front of his PC and began to bring up several plots showing geographical data along with proposed new licenses that Zion Oil would be seeking. We really got excited! We were given a tour of the offices and meet two gentlemen from the Zion Oil team. Aaron Kahn who is a geologist and whose family lives in Florida and Victor Carrillo who is the executive Vice President and resides in Texas. I cannot say enough good things about all of these men. Many times when you find someone who has excelled in their field, it has been my experience that egos tend to get in the way. Not these men, they are simple down to earth goal oriented and a group who have the ability to work well together. What is so beautiful about Zion Oil, there are Jews, Christians and Muslims all working in unity toward a common goal. I am reminded of story of the tower of Babel. There was a very good reason why the Lord changed their languages.

God made a very profound statement. He said when men are in unity, they can accomplish anything. The reason… because we are made in His image!

The secondary objective of our trip was to visit and pray for the successful discovery of hydrocarbons in the Land of Israel. We are believing that Zion Oil is about to bring forth the treasures buried within the sand. Over the years I have done my best to promote Zion Oil to all believers for two reasons. The first was to bless Israel and the other was to bring favor and blessing back to the believers.

Our visit with Zion Oil staff and the actual drill site was in every way a blessing to us and the words the Holy Spirit had us to speak to several of the staff was also an encouragement to them. We were all given hard hats, yes even Miss Marie, (wait till you see the photos) and we were shown every courtesy and our every question was answered.

Finally, John, Marie and I asked if we could pray for the Zion Oil drill site and of course were given the permission. The three of us along with a sweet brother in the Lord, Victor the Exec President and Aaron the geologist who had a wonderful spirit joined us in taking in our hands the “gates” of the Zion Oil drill site and prayed. Our parting statement to them was that many Christians were praying and holding Zion Oil up before the Lord. Our visit had concluded but a transference of encouragement had taken place with these men from Zion that bonded all of us together to a common goal.

After leaving the Zion Oil well site, we drove to Jody and Alyoshas’ place and fellowshipped with them before beginning our assent up to the Golan Heights. However we were not able to cover much of the Golan as it was getting late. We then turned south to Tiberius. Tiberius is that city mid-way up on the western side of the Kinneret that is to say, the Sea of Galilee. It is here the Lord Jesus calmed the waters and Simon Peter walked on the water. The Spirit of the Lord has been calming the raging winds and seas in each of our lives and many years we are not even aware of His steadfast protection over us.

John, Marie and I stayed in the Leonardo hotel, an older hotel however from our windows we could see the Sea of Galilee. It was our hope to take a sail on the Kinneret however the Golan was still calling.

So we again began our assault the Golan…….however we stopped at the Mount of Beatitudes. There were several tour busses there. We were walking back to the car and we struck up a conversation with Sherry and when she mentioned the Joshua Fund, I said do you mean Joel Rosenberg? Sherry replied with a yes and there he is there, just a few feet away. John, Marie and I were privileged to speak with Joel for about five minutes as we walked back to the parking lot. Of course I had to tell him I had read nearly all his books!

We continued our journey nearly as far north to within just a few miles from the Syrian border. Our hearts broke for seeing the young IDF soldiers standing guard in small lookouts along the way. We observed several command bases and about a dozen tanks and various heavily armored off road combat vehicles.

All the while John was at many times singing in the Spirit and many occasions we would simply break out and began praying one after another, each giving glory to the Lord for all His goodness and asking for mercy and revelation to fall upon

His people.

We pulled on to a small rest area with a scenic view where a bus was parked. There were about 20 young men and women all IDF soldiers and they were eating lunch which consisted of fresh fruit. I asked if anyone spoke English, nearly all respond with a yes. I then remarked, Ah hah, so all of you speak English and immediately we were laughing and had a brief conversation.

Again, John, Marie and I kept speaking our message to them, you are loved and many Christians are praying for your protection and safety and blessing. Our heart is to see Israel prosper and be blessed. As I have said many times before, you see an immediate change in their countenance when hearing of God’s love.

Marie and I have remarked, that at every turn, every place you look, there is such beauty that certainly this is the Land of God. The Bible states that Jerusalem is the Lord’s footstool, since we know that God’s Word is true, then the valleys must be His footprints. You simply cannot turn your face in any direction without finding a breathtaking vista with each demanding to be placed on the cover of Nat Geo.

We wish to express our love and gratitude for all of you and our continued thanks for praying for us, we feel and see the reality of your prayer.

As I had stated before, our intention was not to rent a car and drive however we have now driven over 1,700 miles and we are about to begin out trek southward next Monday to visit with Melanie and Ronen. While in the area of the Negev, we will also take in Masada and the Dead Sea.

I will share a little secret with all of you. I had in my mind on more than one occasion, said in my heart, “I wish I had the time and energy to walk the Land”. The Lord’s ear is not deaf for He has granted my desire. He has such a  wonderful sense of humor. The Lord knows that I am no longer the young man who is able to walk the Land so He gave me a Kia Rio to make the journey a little quicker and considerably more enjoyable.

Such is the goodness of our God.

Our heart, our goal our command is to see the completion of the dream as expressed by the Spirit of the Lord.

John, Marie, and me

PS have taken 600 photos which will be available on the website after returning to the States.

Blessings to you and your house,

Steve Grable

http://jeremiah111.org/

Israeli Oil Could Have a Bigger Impact Than Gas

The Jerusalem Post reported this week on an assessment from the Swiss based financial services giant UBS, that a significant oil find could have a greater impact to Israel’s economy than the recent massive natural gas discoveries offshore.

UBS analysts, Roni Biron, Ziv Tal and Reinhard Cluse wrote in a report on the Israeli gas and oil sector that: “Our calculations suggest that, in the event of success, oil could potentially deliver a boost to GDP growth, the budget and the external balance that might potentially be even bigger than the impact from natural gas.

“This would also imply a larger appreciation potential for the shekel and an even greater requirement to manage the resulting macroeconomic challenges through a carefully managed sovereign-wealth fund.”

Simply put, UBS analysts are saying that discovering oil could mean more to Israel’s economy, trade balance, domestic budget, value of the shekel and long term national wealth than the recent gargantuan offshore natural gas finds that will make Israel both import independent and a major exporter. Not to mention (they didn’t) that being oil and gas independent would add significantly to Israel’s national security.

The UBS analysts reminded readers that the Leviathan and Tamar fields were the world’s largest gas discoveries in the past decade, that Tamar would be sufficient for all of Israel’s domestic needs, making Leviathan available for 100% export. They reported, “natural- gas exports from the Leviathan field will begin in 2017 at almost $3 billion per year, before rising to almost $6 billion in 2020.”

$6 billion per year from natural gas exports – that’s significant! What’s more significant is that the UBS report was about how a oil could have a greater impact.