DALLAS and CAESAREA, Israel, April 7, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZN) announced today that Mr. Ilan Sheena CPA (Israel) has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Company, effective March 31, 2011. Mr. Sheena replaces Kent Siegel, who has resigned from the Company by mutual and amicable agreement.
Mr. Sheena, age 52, has been Vice President (Finance) of the Company's Israeli Branch since November 2009 and Managing Director of the Israeli Branch since August 2010. Mr. Sheena is an accounting professional with broad local and international experience. He has a degree in Accounting and Economics from Tel Aviv University and is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel.
From 1985 to 1988 he worked for Somekh Chaikin (KPMG) in Israel where he specialized in both auditing and taxation, primarily for hi-tech and life science companies. From 1988 to 1989 he worked in Sydney, Australia for Horwath & Horwath chartered accountants. From 1989 to 1993, he worked in Sydney, Australia for Alcatel Australia, the French based telecommunications equipment manufacturer, as a financial accountant, where he specialized in financial reporting as well as project accounting. Returning to Israel in 1993, he became the Financial Controller of Arel Communications, a high-tech start-up that progressed to a NASDAQ listing. Between 1995 and 1996, he was the Chief Financial Officer of RCI Israel, a subsidiary of a leading U.S. based leisure industry company. Between 1996 and 1998, he worked for Bezeq International, the Israeli telecommunications company, as its Financial Controller and Finance Manager. Between 1998 and 2000, Mr. Sheena worked at Verint Systems, a key subsidiary of the Comverse Group (a Telco software company) as its Finance Manager and Financial Controller. Between 2000 and 2008, he was employed by Portview Communications Partners L.P., a venture capital fund (with investors such as JP Morgan, Siemens, EDF, AXA and Schlumberger), as its Chief Financial Officer (2000-2007) and as an Advisor (2007-2008); Mr. Sheena also was a member of the venture capital fund's general partner.
Zion's Chief Executive Officer, Richard Rinberg, said today that "Since joining Zion in 2009, Ilan Sheena has become a highly valued member of Zion Oil & Gas. His background and experience will greatly assist us to execute our business strategy, help maximize value and help assess available options for maximizing returns to shareholders. By expanding Ilan's role within our management team, we will increase his contribution to Zion. I am confident that his expertise and experience will contribute to Zion's continued growth and ultimate success."
Zion's common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "ZN".
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.
The Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6850
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements in this press release that are not historical fact, including statements regarding Zion's operations, are forward-looking statements as defined in the "Safe Harbor" provision 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