Zion Oil Stock Receives A+ Rating

Remember folks, you read it here first.
Zion Oil & Gas stock closed at $12.50 yesterday, Friday, February 20. On Monday’s issue of Investor’s Business Daily (that right Monday’s issue) Zion stock will carry an A+ rating.
What does that mean? IBD ranks stocks by a proprietary system ranging from A – E. According to IBD, ‘A’ stocks outperform more than 80%of the market; ‘E’ stocks perform worse than 80% of the market. ‘A+’ is at the top of the top (you can read more about the IBD ranking system here: http://www.investors.com/ibdhelp/helpglossB.asp?helpID=156).

Zion Oil continues to shine in a dark economic environment. I’ve had people ask why the stock is going up so steadily in this terrible market. And, of, course they’ve given me their opinions about Zion’s performance. Here are three reasons for Zion’s increasing stock value that I gave to a http://oilinisrael.net reader this week

1. The Haifa gas discovery is close by and proves massive hydrocarbons in the area.
2. Zion has proven themselves to be a real company – not a fly by night. They do what they say they’re going to do.
3. The announced subscription offer is a great deal – but only to those who already own Zion stock.

It’s pretty simple folks. Now it looks like the rest of the world is catching on.

Gas Discovery Already the Bright Spot in Israel’s Economy

One bright spot in Israel’s financial markets. Today Israel’s Haaretz news organization posted a fairly bleak story on Israel’s financial markets. (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1065141.html) Nothing new in that; stories of down markets are the daily fare in the midst of our worldwide economic meltdown. There was, however a bright spot (brilliant bright!) “Isramco, a main partner in the Tamar-1 exploration that found the huge field of gas off the Haifa shore, exploded upwards again, closing 24% higher on huge turnover of NIS 90 million.” Stock value in Delek Group, also a partner in the Tamar-1 gas discovery, has more than doubled in the last two months. Could Israel’s massive gas discovery (and possibly and oil discovery in the near future) play a major role in saving Israel’s economy? It looks like it already is. Just so you know, here are the partners in the Tamar -1:

Who all is involved in Israel’s offshore gas discovery? Just so you know, here are the partners in the Tamar -1:

1. Noble Energy: 36 percent (Houston, TX, ticker symbol: NBL – NYSE, http://www.nobleenergyinc.com)

2. Isramco Negev: 28.75 percent (Petach Tikvah, Israel, ticker symbol: ISRA.L – TLV)

3. Avner Oil Exploration: 15.625 percent (Petach Tikvah, Israel, ticker symbol: AVNR.L – TLV)

4. Delek Drilling: 15.625 percent (Netanya, Israel, ticker symbol: DEDR.L –TLV, http://www.delek.co.il )

5. Dor Gas Exploration: 4 percent (Yakum, Israel)

Zion Oil at a 52 Week High

Zion Oil & Gas one of only two companies on NASDAQ to hit 52 week high on Tuesday. Zion stock price closed at $10.38 on Tuesday. Zion is also now a part of the Small Cap Investor 25 Composite. Not bad for a little company from Dallas looking for oil in Israel because the Bible said it was there. (source: http://smallcapinvestor.com)

Haifa Gas Discovery Bumped to 5 Trillion Cubic Feet

The pre-drill gross mean resource potential for Tamar was originally estimated at 3.1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas. Immediately following discovery, we estimated the gross resource potential to be at least equal to the pre-drill mean estimate. After analysis of all the post-drill and production test data, the estimated gross mean resource potential of Tamar has now been increased to 5 Tcf.

The Company and its partners have elected to keep the Atwood Hunter, a semi-submersible drilling rig, offshore Israel for two additional wells. Subsequent to operations at the Tamar #1 well, the drilling rig will proceed to the Dalit exploration prospect in the Michal license. Dalit has a pre-drill gross mean resource of about 700 billion cubic feet of natural gas with an approximate 40 percent chance of success. Located in 4,500 feet of water and 28 miles offshore, the well has a proposed total depth of about 12,500 feet. Immediately after concluding operations at Dalit, the rig will be relocated to Tamar where it will drill an appraisal well to further define the resources of the structure.

Charles D. Davidson, Noble Energy’s Chairman, President and CEO, said, “The test results from the Tamar well confirm our initial analysis that the discovered reservoirs are very high quality. This discovery is clearly of a size for commercial development. We hope to extend the success in Israel by testing Dalit, our second prospect which is already covered by 3D. Discussions with our various partners are currently ongoing with plans to potentially conduct new seismic over our additional leads on other licenses in the area. Each incremental piece of information gathered is critically important as we continue to learn more about the potential of the Tamar discovery and this highly under-explored region. The implications of this discovery to Israel, Noble Energy, and our partners cannot be overstated, and we all have committed significant resources to better understand its scale and scope.”

Noble Energy operates both the Matan and Michal licenses with a 36 percent working interest. Other interest owners are Isramco Negev 2 with 28.75 percent, Delek Drilling with 15.625 percent, Avner Oil Exploration with 15.625 percent and Dor Gas Exploration with the remaining four percent.

Noble Energy is a leading independent energy company engaged in worldwide oil and gas exploration and production. The Company operates primarily in the Rocky Mountains, Mid-Continent, and deepwater Gulf of Mexico areas in the United States, with key international operations offshore Israel, UK and West Africa. Noble Energy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is traded under the ticker symbol NBL. Visit Noble Energy online at www.nobleenergyinc.com.

Israel Discovers Natural Gas: Is Oil far Behind?

Last month Delek-Noble an energy exploration partnership, announced a massive natural gas discovery off Israel’s northern coast. According to reports, they may have enough natural gas to supply Israel’s needs for fifteen years.

In the energy exploration world it’s generally understood that where you find gas, you find oil and vice-versa. Zion Oil and Gas, founded by John Brown received its first onshore exploration license in 2000. Brown came to Israel in the 1980′s with the belief that a massive oil discovery for Israel was predicted in the pages of the Bible. With nothing but his Bible and his faith John Brown began his quest for Israel’s oil. The company now holds 162,000 acres under license in Northern Israel and is planning to drill its second well next month.

Last week I asked Zion CEO Richard Rinberg if Delek-Noble’s recent offshore discovery affects Zion’s chances of discovering oil and gas onshore, how the current world economy is playing into their exploration efforts and about Zion’s drilling plan.

*****

Steve Spillman: Delek and Noble Energy announced a massive natural gas discovery off the coast of Haifa earlier this month. How has this news affected the optimism of Israel’s citizens about the country’s energy future? How has it affected optimism for onshore oil and gas exploration?

Richard Rinberg: Due to the size of the offshore discovery, there’s little doubt that optimism in oil and gas exploration, both offshore and onshore, has increased.

At Zion Oil we are delighted, as this discovery is very good for Israel and we believe validates our belief that significant oil and gas reserves can be found in Israel.

The discovery also reinforces the decision by the Government of Israel to continue building the gas pipeline infrastructure and electric generating plants powered by natural gas.

Due to the high cost of developing this new field, surprisingly, the result may well be higher gas prices.

For years, the Israel Electric Company (IEC) has purchased gas at prices below the normal international market price. But with declining production from the Yam Tethy’s field, their reliance on natural gas to power five generating plants (with two more under construction),  and the uncertainty of Egyptian supply, IEC may no longer be in a position to ensure that the price that they pay for natural gas is below normal international market prices. If the price isn’t reasonable, then the owners of the new discovery can export their produced gas.

We believe that the market will be able to absorb any new gas finds and, as a result of this discovery, any natural gas that Zion may discover and produce could be worth more than estimated before this discovery.

SS: Do you think this discovery may have any direct relevance to what you expect to find in the Joseph and Asher license areas?

RR: There is no direct relevance to our exploration in terms of a continuation in a geological structure. Our expectation is unchanged – we are still very optimistic.

SS: The world economy has been pretty shaken up over the past several months. Oil prices have plummeted. How do the world economic situation and oil prices affect Zion’s exploration plans?

RR: In 2008, we implemented a $10-unit public offering and raised over $6.4 million in cash, in order to fund our drilling plans in Israel. The offering was certainly a success, but we were hoping to gather significantly more funds than we did. The world financial crisis had its negative effect on us, just as on everyone else.

Perhaps surprising to the person in the street, the fall in the price of oil is actually good for Zion’s drilling plans, as we will have cost savings of $500,000 to $700,000 as a result of lower shipping and transport costs and lower fuel costs during drilling. We are very happy to ‘suffer’ a low oil price during our drilling operations.

Of course, at a later stage… well let’s save that for another day.

SS: The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost about forty percent of its value in the last year. Other world markets, including Israel’s have fared the same or worse. Zion just completed a public follow-on offering in which it raised more than $6.6 million and even though the company has yet to produce any oil; its stock value is higher now than when the company first went public. How do you account for a successful public offering and Zion’s stock value in the middle of the current economic meltdown?

RR: There are a number of different answers I could give, but perhaps the truth is ‘all of the answers, at the same time’.

Everyone who works at Zion believes in the uniqueness of our company and our goal to help Israel by finding oil and gas, onshore in Israel. I believe that the vast majority of our stockholders also recognize that Zion is not just another company. They purchased the stock to support our work and hold; it’s not just another trade.

Simply put, those who work at Zion or support Zion by owning stock have faith that all will eventually work out, in the Lord’s good time. Those who hold the stock just don’t want to let it go.

From a business standpoint, our goal is to build value into the company and, of course, success with our exploration work would inevitably be reflected by a higher stock price.

SS: Zion has contracted with the Turkish oil drilling company AME, for a 2,000 horsepower drilling rig. AME’s rig is bigger – can go deeper than any drilling rig currently available in Israel. My understanding is that the Israeli rig Zion used to drill the Ma’anit #1 well in 2005 wasn’t mechanically able to reach a depth beyond 15,500 feet. And it’s your opinion that the Ma’anit #1 failed to produce simply because the well wasn’t deep enough. Is that correct?

RR: We drilled the Ma’anit #1 well to a depth of 15,842 feet, to the Triassic formation, with encouraging results. However, due to the mechanical condition of the well-bore, in June 2007, we decide to abandon the well. The well failed to produce due to mechanical problems and not, we believe, because of the absence of oil and gas.

You are correct that the rig that we used back then was not capable of drilling any deeper than we actually did.

The whole reason for bringing a 2,000 horsepower rig into Israel is to enable us to ‘explore the deep’ and drill down to the Permian geological formation.

This time we have all the extensive knowledge gained during the drilling of the Ma’anit #1 well, so we are better prepared to deal with the mechanical problems than before.

SS: When is the AME rig expected to arrive at the Ma’anit Rehoboth #2 site? When do you expect to be drilling?

RR: We currently expect the drilling rig to arrive in Israel, rig-up and commence drilling in March 2009.

SS: Is the $6.6 million Zion raised in the follow-on offering enough to complete the project?

RR: Oil and gas exploration is a very expensive business and our project has much work ahead of it. There are many wells to be drilled on our license areas. So, we will proceed with our operational work, while at the same time keeping a weather eye on our cash reserves. At some stage, we hope and believe, Zion will become (very) cash-positive.

SS: What are Zion’s exploration plans beyond the Ma’anit Rehoboth #2 well?

RR: We are already planning our third well, the Elijah #3 well and have further plans that are, as yet, not in the public domain, so we cannot discuss them at present.

SS: Zion’s mission is to produce oil and gas in Israel. A major oil discovery in Israel will certainly have a significant economic impact on the country. Do you think the implications of Zion Oil & Gas accomplishing its mission will reach beyond economics?

RR: Without a doubt. Zion’s Founder and Chairman, John Brown, came to this project due to an idea planted in his mind by your father, Jim Spillman, and his book. John became convinced that the Holy Bible contained clear references to oil in Israel and the location where that oil may be found.

Over a number of years, John gathered a group of geologists and oil and gas professionals together, including Zion’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Glen Perry. Glen is an oil and gas professional who will readily tell you that this project is the most exciting he has ever been involved with in his long and successful career.

With success, John will say “See, the Book is true!” And for those who hear Zion’s story, there will certainly be much contemplation that something truly historical has occurred – perhaps even a spiritual awakening and the dawning of a new age.

Zion Oil Announces Rights Offering

Zion Oil & Gas (NYSE Alternext US: ZN) announced today that it has filed for a rights offering with the SEC. Under the terms of the offering Zion  shareholders will receive (3) subscription rights for every (8) shares of common stock held. Each subscription right entitles the holder to buy one additional share of common stock at $5.00. For example, if a shareholder currently holds 1,000 shares of Zion Oil common stock, the shareholder would receive 375 subscription rights, or the right to buy 375 additional shares of common stock at $5.00. As I write this post, Zion Oil & Gas shares are at $8.81. That same shareholder, if he or she exercised his or her subscription right, 375 share would cost the share holder $1875, assuming today’s market price of $8.81, those 375 shares would be worth $3,303.75; a gain of $1428.75 with the stroke of a pen. Not a lot of hand wringing over that one.

Here’s Zion’s announcement:

ZION OIL ANNOUNCES RIGHTS OFFERING

Dallas, Texas and Caesarea, Israel – January 29, 2009 – Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (NYSE Alternext US: ZN) announced today that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to a proposed rights offering to its common stockholders of up to 4.2 million shares of common stock. Each whole subscription right will entitle the holder to purchase one share of common stock for $5.00.
Under the proposed rights offering, stockholders will receive three (3) subscription rights for every eight (8) shares of common stock owned on the record date. This is identical to 0.375 subscription rights for each share of common stock owned on the record date.

Should the rights offering be fully subscribed, the company expects to receive gross proceeds of $21 million. The proceeds from the rights offering will be used for Zion’s multi-well drilling plan.

Stockholders who fully exercise their rights will be entitled to subscribe for additional shares of common stock, if available, that were not subscribed for by other rights holders.

The record, commencement and initial expiration dates for the offering will be determined at the time that the registration statement relating to the rights offering becomes effective.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.

Zion Oil & Gas, Inc., a Delaware corporation, explores for oil and gas in Israel in areas located onshore between Tel-Aviv and Haifa. It currently holds two petroleum exploration licenses, the Joseph and Asher-Menashe Licenses, between Netanya on the south and Haifa on the north, covering a total of approximately 162,000 acres.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements in this press release that are not historical fact, including statements regarding Zion’s planned operations, potential results thereof and plans contingent thereon, including the importation of a drilling rig into Israel, the granting of various required permits and the gross proceeds of the rights offering, are forward-looking statements as defined in the “Safe Harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that are subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are described in Zion’s periodic reports filed with the SEC and are beyond Zion’s control. These risks could cause Zion’s actual performance to differ materially from the results predicted by these forward-looking statements. Zion can give no assurance that the expectations reflected in these statements will prove to be correct and assumes no responsibility to update these statements.

Zion’s homepage may be found at: www.zionoil.com

Contact:

Brittany Russell

Zion Oil & Gas, Inc.

6510 Abrams Rd., Suite 300

Dallas, TX 75231

(1) 214-221-4610

Email: dallas@zionoil.com

Zion Oil Raises $6.6 Million+ in Public Offering

Zion Oil & Gas announced results of it’s latest public offering today. The offering included three closing dates and amounts totaling $6,663,430. Capital raise in the offering will finance drilling the Ma’anit Rehoboth #2 well in Northern Israel. Zion’s press release is below:

Zion Oil Issues Units in Third and Final Closing of Follow-on Offering

Dallas, Texas and Caesarea, Israel – January 21, 2009 – Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (NYSE Alternext US: ZN) announced today that the company will issue 249,039 units in the third and final closing of Zion’s follow-on offering. Each unit consists of one share of Zion stock and one warrant to purchase one share of Zion stock. The units were issued at $10 per unit and the amount raised in this closing was $2,490,390, of which $2,364,640 was for cash, $120,000 was for debt conversion of deferred salary due to two officers of Zion and $5,750 was in settlement of fees due to two service providers.

In the initial and second closings of this offering, held on October 24 and December 2 2008, Zion issued 417,204 units, raising gross proceeds of $4,172,040.

In total, Zion raised from its follow-on offering, which ended on January 9, 2009, gross proceeds of $6,663,430, of which $6,417,680 was for cash, $240,000 was debt conversion related to the deferred salary due to two officers of Zion and $5,750 was in settlement of fees due to two service providers. In respect of the total amount raised, Zion issued 666,343 Units

Zion’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Rinberg, said today, ” With the funds raised in this offering, we now eagerly await the arrival of the 2,000 horsepower drilling rig and the drilling of Zion’s second well, on our Joseph License, to the Triassic Formation (down to a depth of 15,400 feet) and then, we plan, to the Permian Formation (down to a depth below 18,000 feet).”

Zion’s common stock trades on the NYSE Alternext US under the symbol “ZN“. On February 9, 2009, each unit will separate into its component share and warrant, and each of the shares and the warrants will trade separately, with the warrant trading under the symbol “ZN.WS“.

Zion Oil & Gas, Inc., a Delaware corporation, explores for oil and gas in Israel in areas located onshore between Tel-Aviv and Haifa. It currently holds two petroleum exploration licenses, the Joseph and Asher-Menashe Licenses, between Netanya on the south and Haifa on the north, covering a total of approximately 162,000 acres.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements in this press release that are not historical fact, including statements regarding Zion’s planned operations, potential results thereof and plans contingent thereon, including the importation of a drilling rig into Israel and the granting of various required permits, are forward-looking statements as defined in the “Safe Harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements are based on assumptions that are subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are described in Zion’s periodic reports filed with the SEC and are beyond Zion’s control. These risks could cause Zion’s actual performance to differ materially from the results predicted by these forward-looking statements. Zion can give no assurance that the expectations reflected in these statements will prove to be correct and assumes no responsibility to update these statements.

Zion’s homepage may be found at: www.zionoil.com

Contact:

Brittany Russell
Zion Oil & Gas, Inc.
6510 Abrams Rd., Suite 300
Dallas, TX 75231
(1) 214-221-4610
Email: dallas@zionoil.com

Expect Stock Surge in US Oil and Gas Companies Exploring in Israel

Israeli energy stocks surged today (see http://www.oilinisrael.net/oil-in-israel-articles/israel-energy-stocks-surge-on-large-gas-find)based on Noble Energy’s announcement of a discovery off the Haifa Coast of over three trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Noble Energy (NBL, NYSE) who announced the discovery and Zion Oil (ZN, AMEX), both public companies trading on American Markets, and both involved in Israeli energy exploration, should experience similar stock surges on Monday when US markets open.

Israel energy stocks surge on large gas find

JERUSALEM, Jan 1 8 (Reuters) – Shares of Israeli energy companies soared on Sunday after an exploration group led by Noble Energy (NBL.N) said it discovered more than 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off Israel’s Mediterranean coast.

Among Israeli partners in the Yam Thetis consortium, Isramco (ISRAp.TA), with a 28.75 percent stake, led gainers with a nearly 130 percent surge.

Delek Drilling (DEDRp.TA), which holds 15.625 percent of the group, jumped 48 percent, while Avner Oil Exploration, also with a 15.625 percent stake, (AVNRp.TA) was up 36 percent.

Delek’s parent, Delek Group (DELKG.TA), rose 54 percent.

Overall, the blue-chip Tel Aviv 25 index .TA25 was up 2.6 percent, while the broader TA-100 .TA100 was 3.7 percent higher at midday.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by John Stonestreet)

Israel Discovers Huge Natural Gas Field

“They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.”

(Deuteronomy 33:19)

 Noble Energy (see my earlier post: http://www.oilinisrael.net/oil-in-israel-articles/more-detail-about-the-haifa-offshore-gas-exploration) has discovered “three massive gas fields” just off the coast of Haifa. This field is much richer, the natural gas reservoirs much larger than Noble energy expected. This find alone could be enough natural gas to power Israel’s electrical plants and supply it’s commercial and domestic natrual gas needs for the foreseeable future – and still with enough for export to other countries. Yitzhak Tshuva, owner of the Delek Group Ltd, a partner in the Tamar #1 well, called the discovery “one of the biggest in the world,” promising that the find would present a historic land mark in the economic independence of Israel.

The Jerusalem Post and many other news organizations announced the discovery to the people of Israel and to the world this morning. Below are excerpts of the JP article you can read it in its entirety at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1232265973374.

Jerusalem Post Sunday January 18, 2009

Three massive  gas reservoirs have been discovered 80 kilometers off the Haifa coast, at the Tamar prospect, Noble Energy Inc. announced on Sunday.

The Tamar -1 well, located in approximately 5,500 feet of water, was drilled to a total depth of 16,076 feet. The thickness and quality of the reservoirs found were greater than anticipated at the location.

Charles D. Davidson, Noble Energy’s chairman, president and CEO, said in an announcement that his company was “extremely excited by the results. This is one of the most significant prospects that we have ever tested and appears to be the largest discovery in the company’s history.”

Speaking on Army Radio Sunday morning, an exhilarated Yitzhak Tshuva, owner of the Delek Group Ltd, one of the owners of the well, called the discovery “one of the biggest in the world,” promising that the find would present a historic land mark in the economic independence of Israel.

“I have no doubt that this is a holiday for the State of Israel. We will no longer be dependent [on foreign sources] for our gas, and will even export. We are dealing with inconceivably huge quantities; Israel now has a solution for the future generations,” Tshuva added.

An ecstatic Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said before the weekly cabinet meeting that the discovery was a “historic” one and could “change the face of Israeli industry.”

Production testing at Tamar will be performed after the well is completed. Noble Energy and its partners may keep the rig to drill up to two additional wells in the basin. Pending positive test results, one well could be an appraisal at Tamar.

Noble Energy operates the well with a 36 percent working interest. Other interest owners in the well are Israeli companies Isramco Negev 2, Delek Drilling, Avner Oil Exploration and Dor Gas Exploration.

Following the announcement of the discover, shares of Delek Drilling jumped up 80%, while shares of Isramco Negev 2 skyrocketed by an unprecedented 120 percent.

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