DALLAS and CAESAREA, Israel, Oct. 18, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (Nasdaq: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 endeavors.
"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 common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "ZN" and Zion's warrants trade under the symbols: "ZNWAW," "ZNWAZ" and "ZNWAL."
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements in this communication that are not historical fact, including statements regarding Zion's planned operations, 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.
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