Filed
pursuant to Rule 433
Registration
Statement No. 333-164563
Zion Oil
& Gas Newsletter
February
12, 2010
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Dear
Shareholder and/or Friend of Zion...
On
Monday, 'Maariv'
(one of the major daily Hebrew language newspapers in Israel) sent their
reporter, Mordechai Chaimovitch, to visit both our Caesarea office and the
Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 and Elijah #3 well sites. They conducted some interviews,
took many photographs and then followed up, on Tuesday, with a telephone
interview with John Brown in Dallas.
Zion has
been featured or mentioned in various articles in the business press recently,
as 'Oil & Gas in Israel' continues to be a 'hot topic' that is attracting
very great interest in Israel.
Left to
Right: Mordechai
Chaimovitch interviews
Rasim
Yoruk (AME's Assistant Drilling Manager)
...............................................................
Here is
this week's operations update.
Operations at the Elijah #3
Well
The
Elijah #3 site. The mast of the drilling rig is laid down,
in
preparation for a move to the Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 well site.
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.
In last
week’s update, I noted that we reached an impasse in our fishing operations at
the Elijah #3 well, after achieving a good measure of progress in recovering the
stuck drill pipe.
As a
result of the impasse, we decided to temporarily suspend
drilling activities at the Elijah #3 well, while we consider various options to
resolve the challenge of drilling through the loosely consolidated Asher
Volcanics to our target depth, as well as retrieving the stuck pipe. Almost
certainly, we will need to import into Israel equipment and/or services that are
not readily available here.
Rather
than suspending all well operations and putting the drilling rig in stand-by
mode in order to take the necessary time to formulate a revised plan at the
Elijah #3 well, we decided to relocate the rig to the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well
for production testing (see summary below).
As you
can see in the photographs above, we are currently in the process of
demobilizing the rig and associated equipment from the Elijah #3 well site. The
well site itself will remain in “ready mode” for future operations.
Based on
our current geologic assessment, we remain encouraged about the hydrocarbon
potential in this license area and look forward to the not-too-distant future
when we return and complete the work that is already well underway.
The Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2
Well
The
Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 Well Site, showing the well head
We are
now in the process of getting ready to re-enter this well to conduct production
testing on several geologic intervals. As noted previously, the Ma’anit-Rehoboth
#2 well was drilled to a depth of 17,913 feet (5,460 meters) and had been
temporarily suspended since December 2009.
During a
routine workover operation, prior to the well’s suspension, a small quantity of
oil was recovered from the well, giving physical evidence to support our
geologist’s contention that the well penetrated hydrocarbon bearing
intervals.
The
decision to mobilize the drilling rig from the Elijah #3 well to the
Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well is a major undertaking, as we need to prepare the
Ma'anit site and relocate many tons of equipment by a distance of approximately
25 kilometers. The project to move the rig requires approximately two weeks
before the rig mast is erected again and well operations may begin
anew.
We have
finalized our testing procedures for the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well and are now
ordering the required equipment and services so that work may begin when the rig
becomes operational. In the meantime, we continue to observe evidence
of reservoir pressure and the presence of potential hydrocarbons at the surface
and are anxiously awaiting the rig’s arrival at the Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 well
site, later this month.
The Issachar-Zebulun Permit
Area
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.
Pre-site
assessment is scheduled to begin this month with the actual field work
anticipated to occur during April and May 2010.
The Annual Meeting Of
Shareholders
We will
be sending out formal notices later in the year, but you may be interested to
note in your diary that Zion's Annual Meeting of Shareholders is scheduled to
take place, in Israel,
on Monday, June 14,
2010.
This may
be an opportunity for you to visit Israel, attend Zion's Annual Meeting and
enjoy a trip to the Holy Land.
"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
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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