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Zion Oil & Gas Newsletter
March 5, 2010
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| Dear Shareholder and/or Friend of Zion…
Last week, both Bill Ottaviani (Zion’s President and Chief Operating Officer) and I visited New York, in order to present Zion Oil & Gas at the ‘NASDAQ-Oppenheimer 14th Annual Israeli Equities Conference’.
We presented to investment professionals attending the ‘by invitation only’ event. Amongst others, conference attendees included representatives from Bank of America, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley.
We believe that the presentation, an audio webcast with slides, was successful and have posted a link to it on Zion’s homepage (www.zionoil.com) so that you can review and enjoy it.
Please note that, due to the ever increasing demands on management time, from now on, we will send you an update email once every two weeks, instead of every week. Of course, if there is anything urgent to report, we will issue a press release or a ‘breaking news’ email to you.
But, as always, our petroleum exploration work will continue at an unabated pace… every single working day.
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So, here is this week’s operations update: |
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The Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 Wellsite |
The Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 Well
Since the previous report, I am pleased to note that we have restarted rig operations on this well, as you can see in the pictures above (photographed on Thursday, March 4, 2010).
Apart from the rig crew of Aladdin Middle East, the Metsada wireline truck is onsite as is the Weatherford team and their equipment.
Our plan is to test several geologic intervals for the presence of producible hydrocarbons. These various ‘intervals of interest’ were previously identified through the use of open-hole diagnostic tools when the well was drilled.
Now that we have the drilling rig back on the hole, we can “complete” the well.
In the past days, we completed some of the initial down-hole preparatory work that was needed before we can production test the first geologic interval. This preparatory work included milling out the plug used to isolate the open-hole section of the well and validating that the cement bond quality between the casing and rock formation is adequate for testing.
Without a good cement bond, that effectively isolates the zone we wish to test, we risk not being able to accurately evaluate the productivity of that particular zone. To assess if the cement bond is adequate, we used an electronic down-hole tool (aptly named a ‘Cement Bond Logging Tool’) that confirmed that we do have sufficient bond quality. This is good news as it means that we do not need to perform a remedial cementing operation and can proceed to the next phase of the testing operation for this first interval.
The next phase includes perforating the zone of interest and testing the well for hydrocarbon flow. To ‘perforate’, we use shaped explosive charges that are run into the well on a perforating ‘gun’ – a long hollow cylinder. The charges are spaced out equally along this cylinder, across the zone of interest, and detonated from the surface. The energy from the exploding charges penetrates (or perforates) the casing and into the rock formation.
This action creates a passageway for any hydrocarbons in the rock to find their way to the wellbore. The pressure drop from the higher pressure rock to the lower pressure wellbore allows any hydrocarbons present to flow from the rock to the well. We plan to use sophisticated equipment from Schlumberger Oilfield Services to measure pressures and flow rates, both inside and outside the well, all critical data needed to assess a well’s long term production capabilities.
Logistical planning and coordination continues to be a significant challenge in Israel, as we have to import much of the equipment needed for our well operations. For the most part, we have been securing our needed resources for this well work on a ‘just in time’ basis. Now that we do not have to perform a remedial cementing operation, we find ourselves in a situation where we may need to wait on some needed equipment to continue our work without interruption.
Our suppliers have been working very hard to ensure they meet our tight timing needs, but sometimes delays are inevitable. Should we encounter such a delay, we don’t anticipate it to be very long and will be doing everything possible to stay on our planned schedule to complete the full testing program in April 2010.
Operations at the Elijah #3 Well
(No change from previous report.)
The Elijah #3 well was drilled to a depth of approximately 10,938 feet (3,334 meters) when the drill string became stuck within the Asher Volcanics section of the hole. After recovering a significant portion of the stuck drill pipe, progress in recovering the remainder of the pipe slowed and the decision was made to temporarily suspend drilling operations pending further analysis of the situation and to relocate the rig to the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well.
We are currently assessing various options that should enable us to proceed with the ‘next steps’ for this well.
The Issachar-Zebulun Permit Area |
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The Issachar-Zebulun Permit Area |
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As reported previously, Zion and the Geophysical Institute of Israel (GII) have signed an Agreement for GII, on behalf of Zion, to acquire approximately 30 kilometers of seismic data in Zion’s Issachar-Zebulun Permit area.
A pre-site assessment field trip was conducted last month by Zion’s geological team and members of GII. As you can see from the photo, doing field work can, at times, be a fairly messy business. The purpose of the site visit was to assess the general area where seismic data is to be collected and identify potential natural barriers (e.g. waterways) or other impediments (man-made structures) that could impact the seismic acquisition process.
With the pre-site assessment completed, detailed planning can now commence for the actual field work. The timing for the field work has been pushed back by a number of weeks, as the seismic crew for GII are currently out of Israel and not scheduled to return until mid-summer 2010.
“In your good pleasure, make Zion prosper…”
Psalm 51:18 |
| Thank you for your support of Zion, and
Shalom from Israel
Richard Rinberg
CEO of Zion Oil & Gas, Inc.
www.zionoil.com
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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements in this communication that are not historical fact, including statements regarding Zion’s planned operations, geophysical and geological data and interpretation, anticipated attributes of geological strata being drilled, drilling efforts and locations, the presence or recoverability of hydrocarbons, timing and potential results thereof and plans contingent thereon and sufficiency of cash reserves 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.
Contact Information
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More information about Zion is available at www.zionoil.com or by contacting Michael Williams at Zion Oil & Gas, Inc., 6510 Abrams Rd., Suite 300, Dallas, TX 75231; telephone 1-214-221-4610; email: dallas@zionoil.com
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DALLAS and CAESAREA, Israel, Feb 5, 2010 (GlobeNewswire) –Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZN) announced today that the Company is mobilizing its drilling rig, currently situated at the Elijah #3 well, to resume production testing operations on the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well as soon as possible within approximately two weeks.
Zion drilled the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well to a depth of 17,913 feet (5,460 meters). The well penetrated a number of geologic formations that have been preliminarily deemed to have hydrocarbon potential and a small quantity of crude oil has been recovered and analyzed.
Zion completed drilling the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well in September 2009 and decided, based on the best information then available, to move its drilling rig to begin drilling its Elijah #3 well. Zion’s intention was to attempt to test and complete the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well with a small workover rig. In December 2009, as planned, the Company brought in a small workover rig to conduct swabbing operations on the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well.
Due in part to personnel transitions and a shortage of adequate equipment in Israel to conduct satisfactory completion operations on the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well, the Company was not planning to resume testing operations on the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well until sometime in March or April of 2010.
However, given previously reported operational challenges on the Elijah #3 well, Bill Ottaviani, Zion’s newly appointed President and Chief Operating Officer, decided that a temporary suspension of operations at the Elijah #3 was a prudent course of action in order to expedite production testing at the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well.
Mr. Ottaviani commented, “Following the drilling of our Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well, we have continued to observe evidence of reservoir pressure and the presence of hydrocarbons at the surface. Our geologists have identified several potential hydrocarbon-bearing intervals from the diagnostic data acquired when the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well was drilled. We are currently fine-tuning our plans for production testing these intervals and are looking forward to resuming operations at the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well. As we have stated in the past, we are unsure as to whether we have made a discovery of any hydrocarbon reservoir or, if such a reservoir exists, whether it would be commercially viable.”
Zion’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Rinberg, said today that, “We have every expectation to resume activity on the Elijah #3 well in the not-too-distant future, once we conclude on the best course of action for this well. Based on our current geologic assessment, we remain excited about the hydrocarbon potential in this license area and look forward to ‘making hole’ once again at this location. While we temporarily step back from one well to reconfigure our next steps, we are quickly ramping-up activity at another, as we continue to implement our multi-well strategy.”
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.
Zion Oil & Gas applied today for an additional 245,000 acres of exploration area in the biblical lands of Zebulun and Issachar. “… for they [Zebulun & Issachar] shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.” (Deuteronomy 33:19) The applied for license area also includes the valley of Megiddo. If Zion is extended the new license area, the company’s total area under license will grow to 400,000 acres.
In today’s letter to ‘Shareholders and Friends of Zion”, CEO Richard Rinberg also reported on progress with the company’s drilling contractor, Alladin Middle East: “On February 20, 2009, two senior executives from Aladdin Middle East Ltd (AME), in Turkey, visited our office in Dallas. We met with both AME’s Business Development Coordinator and Drilling Manager as, in September 2008, we contracted with AME to use their 2,000 horsepower drilling rig to drill our Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well. (You can see the location marked on the map diagram above.)
They informed us that they have now fully disassembled the drilling rig into eighty loads, in preparation for transit from Ankara to Israel. They told us that there is no shortage of vessels for shipping the rig to Israel and they expect, once the rig has cleared customs at Haifa Port, that they will require only nine days in which to rig-up (i.e. erect) the drilling rig.
Both Zion and AME have submitted all the crew documentation requested by the authorities in Israel; we now wait for confirmation that Israel has granted the Turkish crew worker permits. As soon as confirmation is received, the drilling rig will start its journey to Israel.” By the way: Zion stock closed at $17.27 today. Unbelievable. (See Genesis 12:3)
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