DALLAS, April 13, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZN) of Dallas, Texas and Caesarea, Israel, announced today that Mr. William L. Ottaviani has been appointed as a Director of Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. Mr. Ottaviani has been serving as the Company's President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company since January 31, 2010 and will continue to serve in these positions.
Mr. Ottaviani, a petroleum engineer by training, served as Chief Operating Officer at Rex Energy Corporation from November 2007 to September 2009. From September 2009 to January 2010, he worked as an independent consultant. From 1982 until 2007, Mr. Ottaviani served in various management, engineering, operational and staff assignments for Chevron and its affiliated companies, with assignments in California, Louisiana, Indonesia and Angola. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and his M.B.A. from California State University, Bakersfield.
Mr. John Brown, Chairman of the Board and Founder, said: "We are delighted to have Mr. Ottaviani joining our Board of Directors. He brings more than 25 years of experience in the petroleum industry to Zion and will serve as a tremendous asset as we continue our pursuit to recover hydrocarbons in Israel."
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.
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