Zion Appoints Carrillo President/COO
October 21, 2011 by admin · 5 Comments
New Zion President/COO Victor Carrillo at Zion Drilling Rig
Dallas, Texas and Caesarea, Israel – October 18, 2011 – Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (NASDAQ GM: ZN) announced today that Mr. Victor G. Carrillo has been appointed as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company, replacing Mr. William L. Ottaviani who, by mutual agreement with the Company, left to pursue other opportunities on October 14, 2011. Mr. Ottaviani resigned from the Company’s Board of Directors, as provided for in his employment agreement with the Company.
Mr. Carrillo, age 46, has been serving as the Company’s Executive Vice President since January 2011 and as a director since September 2010. Mr. Carrillo will continue to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Carrillo is a petroleum geologist and geophysicist, attorney, former city councilman, former county judge and former statewide elected official in Texas. For almost eight years, ending in January 2011, Mr. Carrillo served as a commissioner of the Railroad Commission of Texas (the State of Texas Board with regulatory jurisdiction over oil and gas exploration and production) having served as chairman of the three-member statewide elected board twice. Mr. Carrillo holds a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center, a Master of Science degree in geology from Baylor University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from Hardin-Simmons University. Mr. Carrillo also received an honorary doctorate degree from Hardin-Simmons University in May 2006. Mr. Carrillo’s background in petroleum geology and geophysics and regulatory experience as Chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas furnishes to our board access to a greater understanding of both petroleum science and regulatory issues. Mr. Carrillo currently also serves as a director of Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation; an oil and gas company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of unconventional oil and gas resource plays in the United States and Canada. He also serves on the advisory board of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Zion’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Rinberg, said today that, “I want to thank Bill Ottaviani for his contribution to Zion and wish him well in his future endeavours.
I am very pleased to announce Mr. Carrillo’s appointment as our President and Chief Operating Officer. Victor Carrillo has a wealth of experience in the petroleum industry and is an experienced petroleum industry professional. His skills as a petroleum geologist and geophysicist will serve our Company well as we strive to identify drilling prospect opportunities in our license areas, confirm our next drilling locations and implement our multi-well strategy, as we continue our pursuit to recover hydrocarbons in Israel.”
Zion’s next well planned for the Jordan Valley
October 21, 2011 by admin · 3 Comments
In his October 7 Newsletter, Zion Oil & Gas CEO Richard Rinberg wrote. “Our schedules may change, but today, we believe that it is most likely that Zion’s next well will be drilled in our Jordan Valley License in 2012.”
Earlier this month Zion signed a seismic acquisition agreement with the Geophysical Institute of Israel (GII) to conduct a 2D field seismic survey in its Jordan Valley License area that is scheduled to commence in late 2011 or early in 2012.
Threats of War over Oil in the Mediterranean
October 21, 2011 by admin · 4 Comments
Israel Built Sa'ar 5-class Corvette
Israel has plans to enlarge its navy as the potential of a Mediterranean war with Lebanon looms over oil. According to an October 18 UPI report, Israel is considering adding Israeli built warships to protect the Leviathan and Tamar offshore oil and gas fields. Israel’s navy is already scheduled to receive three new German made Dolphin class submarines.
According to the UPI report, “Neighboring Lebanon, which is technically at war with Israel, claims that Leviathan, the largest field yet found, runs into its territorial waters. Israel rejects that claim. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah has threatened military action to prevent Lebanese energy reserved being ‘looted.’”
In the south, Israel also must protect its current offshore gas platforms near Gaza from potential Hamas attack.
Both Hezbollah and Hamas are reported to have acquired anti-ship missiles from Iran that could be used against Israel’s offshore drilling platforms. Additionally, terrorist groups could simply sail explosive laden boats up to the platforms and detonate their cargo.
Lebanon’s news agency, The Daily Star, reported today that, “Lebanon is gearing up for a long-term oil and gas production program although the looming diplomatic crisis with Israel over each country’s share of undersea fossil fuels threatens full-scale conflict …”
Lebanon, still technically at war with Israel, disputes the current Israeli Lebanese maritime border and claims that thousands of square kilometers of Israel’s Tamar and Leviathan gas fields are within Lebanon’s maritime ‘Exclusive Economic Zone.’ The terrorist organization Hezbollah, now an official member of Lebanon’s government and backed by Syria and Iran has vowed that it will not let Israel take possession of the offshore oil and gas fields. Hezollah leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah , stated earlier this year, “Those who put a hand on the Lebanese territories that have oil assets will have their territories harmed in return.”
Is Zion Oil on the Rocks?
September 22, 2011 by admin · 43 Comments
I received a comment from a reader (Bill) yesterday; he was worried, as a lot of folks are, about the recent fall Zion’s stock price. Here’s the comment:
“The price today at $1.50. What’s the process at this end. Does the company fall off the board if it hits below a dollar say? Is there limits? Is there continued values to these stocks if the price falls to say .50 cents or less than a dollar, or less than a quarter? I’m not a stock guy, so if you have this type of information, please post it. Thanks!”
I’m not a genie or a guru and, like Bill, I’m “not a stock guy.” I do have my own opinion of the situation, but before I share it, let me tell you a story.
Not quite 2,000 years ago there was a guy – his parents named him ‘Saul’, but he went by ‘Paul’. After a dramatic meet up with G-d on the road to Damascus, Saul/Paul literally ‘saw the light’ and became the world’s most famous Jewish missionary. This did not please the Jews at the time, at least those who held the community’s political and religious power. They were always accusing him of ‘crimes against G-d and against Rome’ (whatever that meant) and as a result, Paul spent a lot of time in court or in jail. Things began to get dicey; there were death threats and plots, and there was a pretty good chance that if Paul let the locals have their way he would meet an ‘accidental’ death on the way to court. Paul played his trump card – even though he was a Jew, he was also a Roman citizen, and as such he had a right to be tried for his ‘crimes’ in Rome, far away from the locals who had promised that Paul would be dead before he made his court date.
The Roman authorities put Paul on a boat to Rome (really it was just a connector boat, but it did get him to the real boat to Rome). While he was sailing on the real boat to Rome a storm came up – a big storm. The crew did all they could but everyone on the ship knew this storm would be the end of them. Everyone but Paul. In the night an angel visited Paul and said (paraphrased), “Look, you’ve got to tell Caesar your story, you’re definitely going to Rome. Don’t worry about your life or the lives of those on the boat, not one person will be injured or die from this storm … but, the ship will run aground on some island.” Paul would fulfill his mission of standing before Caesar; the storm wasn’t a catastrophe, just a detour.
Nice story, but what does it have to do with Zion Oil?
Zion Oil isn’t the only stock in the cellar right now, have you looked at the Dow averages? We won’t even talk about European economies. It ain’t pretty. How about Israel and all this talk at the UN about Palestinian Statehood? That can’t be good. And there sure is a lot of sabre rattling by Israel’s neighbors to the north about offshore drilling. Things are tense, they don’t look good, there’s a storm a-brewing!
The sailors on Paul’s boat threw everything overboard and tried to escape in the lifeboat. Good thing they didn’t, they would have been killed.
When you’re in the middle of a storm the natural thing to do is panic, toss stuff overboard and go for the lifeboats. That’s the natural thing … sometimes the natural thing is the wrong thing. It’s tough to keep the goal in mind when waves are coming into the boat, but storms come, and then they go, and the goal remains.
John Brown was given a vision and a mission thirty years ago; before there ever was a Zion Oil & Gas, before there were any stock prices to worry about, before anyone knew there actually was oil and gas in Israel. In thirty years there’s been a lot of foul weather and a lot of fair weather, but the goal hasn’t changed. I don’t know if Paul’s angel ever visited John Brown in the night, but I do know that there’s oil and gas in Israel and that Zion is committed to finding their share of it. It’s not easy to ignore the storm and keep your focus on the goal. The easy thing to do is cut and run for the lifeboats … it’s just not the right thing to do.
So Bill, I’m not a ‘stock guy’. I’m just a guy on the boat; I know that storms don’t last forever and, eventually, we’ll get to where we’re going. Until then, I’ll look for daylight.
Israel ‘deploys drones’ over offshore gas fields
August 15, 2011 by admin · 2 Comments
The "Heron" drone is pictured at the Palmahim Airbase in central Israel (AFP/File, Menahem Kahana)
JERUSALEM — Israel has deployed drones to keep watch on gas fields off its northern coast, fearing attack by the Hezbollah militia from neighbouring Lebanon, the Jerusalem Post daily reported on Tuesday.
The fields lie in a part of the Mediterranean that is claimed by Israel for gas exploration and production, but Lebanon says the fields lie within its territorial waters.
“The decision to deploy drones was made in order to maintain a 24-hour presence over the site,” the paper said, adding that the air force was equipped with the locally made Heron drone, which has special electro-optics designed for maritime work.
The Israeli military would not confirm or deny the Post report to AFP.
The paper said that the air force started aerial surveillance after a warning last month from Hezbollah, which in 2006 fought a deadly war with the Jewish state in which it used anti-ship missiles.
“The Israeli enemy cannot drill a single metre in these waters to search for gas and oil if the zone is disputed… No company can carry out prospecting work in waters whose sovereignty is contested,” the Shiite group said.
The Hezbollah threat came after Israel’s cabinet approved a map of the country’s proposed maritime borders with Lebanon and submitted it to the United Nations, which has been asked to mediate in the dispute.
The map conflicts with one submitted by Lebanon to the UN last year, which gives Israel less territory.
The two countries are technically at war and will not negotiate face to face.
The disputed zone consists of about 854 square kilometres (330 square miles).
The two biggest known offshore fields, Tamar and Leviathan, lie respectively about 80 kilometres (50 miles) and 130 kilometres (81 miles) off Israel’s northern city of Haifa.
Tamar is believed to hold at least 8.4 trillion cubic feet of gas (238 billion cubic metres), while Leviathan is believed to have reserves of 16 trillion cubic feet (450 billion cubic metres).
In June an Israeli company announced the discovery of two new natural gas fields, Sarah and Mira, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) off the city of Hadera further south.
Jacob’s Blessing Video
August 2, 2011 by admin · 3 Comments
Steven Spillman speaking at the 2010 Louisiana Bible Prophecy Conference. “Jacob’s Blessing: The Treasures of the Deep”. The Bible prophecies a last days oil discovery in Israel.
Barclays bullish on Leviathan partner Ratio
August 2, 2011 by admin · 2 Comments
Israel's Offshore Gas Fields
Ratio is the investment bank’s stock pick in the energy sector.
2 August 11 12:15, Hillel Koren
Leviathan partner Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) is Barclays Capital’s top pick in Israel’s energy sector. The bank reiterates it “Overweight” recommendation but lowered its target price from NIS 0.74 to NIS 0.71, still a 69% upside on today’s opening price of NIS 0.41.After a four-day road show with Ratio CEO Yigal Landau and Geologist Josh Steinberg, Barclays analyst David Kaplan says that the company compares favorably with its European peers. “Even in our worst-case scenario where we drop the oil targets from our valuation entirely we still see 13% upside from the current share price,” he says. Under the most optimistic scenario, which include the oil prospects and the LNG facility, Barclay’s valuation is NIS 2.27 per share – 441% above the current share price
Kaplan says that Israel current offshore discoveries at Mari-B, Tamar, and Leviathan, are only the first in the Levant basin. While it is clear that there will be disappointing drills, he believes that current best estimate of 25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas “is still the tip of the iceberg,” citing a 2010 US Geological Survey report, which estimates 122 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1.6 billion barrels of oil in the Levant basin.
Kaplan says that Ratio, with $100 million in cash and no debt, is properly capitalized for its 2011-12 capital expenditure plan, which includes bringing in a marine operator for its Gal license (south of Leviathan), and the upcoming Leviathan 3 exploratory well and the resumption of the Leviathan 1 well to oil targets in deeper strata.
Ratio owns 100% of Gal, and 15% of Leviathan; Delek Group Ltd. (TASE:DLEKG) and Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) own the rest.
Israeli oil find changes stakes across Mideast
August 2, 2011 by admin · 10 Comments
While Israel is the model for liberty and democracy in the Mideast, it has no known oil reserves to speak of, making it an oddity in the world’s most oil-rich region. Many of its neighbors, on the other hand, abound in their vast oil wealth, which for decades they’ve used to prop up tyrannies and fuel hatred and terror.
Yet in one fell swoop, a recent geological find could change all this, positioning Israel as an exemplar of how political freedom can combine with the economic freedom oil provides.
Exploration in the Shfela basin, an area just southwest of Jerusalem, has uncovered oil shale deposits that are believed by some leading experts to hold the equivalent of at least 240 billion barrels of oil. In comparison, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, has reserves containing 250 billion barrels. While production would be at least a decade away, the potential effects of this development cannot be underestimated.
It would at last free the world from the clutches of OPEC, the cartel comprised mostly of assorted Arab tyrannies, theocracies and totalitarian states that currently controls global oil prices. Since the 1970s, OPEC has used its power to blackmail the West into acceding to policies that undermine its own vital interests on many fronts and, with at least partial success, isolate Israel. OPEC members have also used billions of petrodollar profits to plant the seeds of an intolerant and supremacist Islamic ideology in mosques, schools and other institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere. These, in turn, have sprouted such poisonous fruit as the Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood and numerous other extremist Jihadist movements that threaten American interests and lives.
A large supply of Israeli oil outside of OPEC’s control would disrupt the cartel, reduce oil prices and OPEC’s profits, and consequently offer a powerful stimulus for the U.S. and global economy. It would simultaneously deprive Iran of the oil revenue they’ve used to support terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, suppress democratic movements at home and elsewhere, kill American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and develop their underground nuclear weapons program that threatens the entire free world.
The immense profit from oil sales would allow Israel to dramatically boost its already-prodigious scientific capabilities, which was integral in developing the modern computer chip, the Internet, telecommunications technology, drip irrigation and many other boons to humanity. The technology created by Israel for its oil retrieval will allow other nations with shale reserves to gain their own energy independence. Oil profits will generate extra funding for Israel’s cutting-edge defensive weapons industry, which recently developed the world’s first working anti-missile shield, a product that will likely benefit the entire civilized world.
Finally, this development demonstrates yet again that it is in America’s vital interest to ensure that Israel, the region’s only democracy, remains safe, secure, and strong – both militarily and economically – in a region of instability and enormous threats. For as technology entrepreneur George Gilder recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “We need Israel as much as it needs us.”
New layer of gas discovered at Tamar field off coast of Haifa
July 25, 2011 by admin · 2 Comments
Deep Sea Rig at Tamar
Haaretz, ‘The Marker’ July 22, 2011
Amount of natural gas and economic implications of discovery at Mediterranean Sea site yet to be determined.
A deeper layer of natural gas has been discovered at the Tamar field, off the coast of Haifa, according to a report published on Thursday by Delek Drilling and Avner Oil Exploration.
The impact of the newly discovered reserve has not yet been analyzed nor released in full. The significance of the newly discovered structure will depend on the amount of natural gas at Tamar and on the estimations of additional layers in other areas of the Mediterranean Sea that have not yet been discovered.
The new reserve, ‘Layer D’, was discovered beneath ‘Tamar 3′, and is said to be up to 25 meters wide.
According to the report, Noble Energy – the American partner leading the consortium – is gathering data on Layer D and analyzing the implications of the extent of the reserves at Tamar. It is currently not possible to determine the size and economic implications of the newly discovered reserve.
Noble owns 36% of Tamar, while Isramco Negev owns 28.75% and Delek Group, controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, has a 31% percent stake through two units with equal shares of 15.6% each, Avner Oil Exploration and Delek Drilling.
The Tamar site is the largest natural gas discovery in Israel and plans on selling natural gas to Israel in 2013.
The Lebanese proposal of its maritime border with Israel that is currently under dispute does not include the Tamar and Leviathan gas prospects.
Myra, Sarah drilling could start in December
Modiin Energy’s partners previously announced that drilling would begin in January or February 2012.
The Myra and Sarah leases have a best estimate of 6.5 trillion feet of natural gas with a 54% chance of geological success, but the range between the high and low estimates are quite large.
Modiin Energy owns 19.3% of Myra and Sarah, ILDC Energy and its affiliates own 48.4%, drilling operator GeoGlobal Resources Inc. (AMEX: GGR) owns 5% through its Indian unit, Israel Petroleum Company Inc. (IPC) owns 13.1%, and Blue Water Oil and Water Exploration Ltd. owns 8.8%.
Modiin Energy’s share price fell 2.1% in morning trading today to NIS 0.046, giving a market cap of NIS 902 million, but ILDC Energy’s share price rose 2.4% to NIS 1.13, giving a market cap of NIS 932 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com – on July 24, 2011
