DALLAS and CAESAREA, Israel, Nov. 30, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZN) announced today that Martin M. Van Brauman has been appointed Secretary and Treasurer of the Company. Mr. Van Brauman served as Zion's Chief Financial Officer from July 2007 to June 2009 and also as a director from August 2008 to June 2009.
Mr. Van Brauman holds a B.E. degree from Vanderbilt University, a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from St. Mary's University and an M.B.A. (Beta Gamma Sigma) and LL.M. (Tax Law), from Southern Methodist University and has over 25 years of experience in corporate tax and accounting analysis. Mr. Van Brauman, Board Certified in Tax Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, spent 12 years as a Senior Attorney (International Specialist and Petroleum Industry Specialist) with the Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, providing legal support for complex issues concerning major U.S. oil companies and the preparation of requests for Technical Advice Memoranda for the Petroleum Industry Group, following which he spent three years as a tax consultant with the global accounting firms of Deloitte & Touche and Grant Thornton and then in private practice with over three years as a member in the law firm of Gibson, Wiley, Cho & Van Brauman, PLLC.
Zion's Chief Executive Officer Richard Rinberg said today, "I am very pleased to have Martin Van Brauman assume the responsibilities as Zion's Secretary and Treasurer. As Zion continues to develop, Martin's expertise on technical issues, his prolonged commitment, knowledge of our business and dedicated service to Zion made him an ideal choice for the positions of Secretary and Treasurer."
With regard to drilling operations at the Ma'anit-Joseph #3 well onshore Northern Israel, we have reached a depth of over 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and drilling continues. That is over half way to our primary target (of Permian age lithology) at a depth of approximately 19,357 feet (5,900 meters) and closing in on our secondary target (of Triassic age lithology) expected below approximately 10,827 feet (3,300 meters).
We remain excited about the possibility of recovering hydrocarbons on our license and permit areas, onshore Israel, especially due to the U.S. Geological Survey report, published in April 2010, containing their assessment that there may be 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in the Levant Basin, as all of Zion's exploration rights fall within the area of the Levant Basin.
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.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements in this press release that are not historical fact, including statements regarding Zion's operations, geophysical and geological data and interpretation, anticipated attributes of geological strata being drilled, drilling efforts and locations, the presence or recoverability of hydrocarbons, the timing and potential results thereof and plans contingent thereon, 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.
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