Zion O&G reported that the Israeli Petroleum Commissioner has awarded the company a one-year extension on its Joseph petroleum exploration license in Northern Israel.

Zion's Joseph license covers an area of approximately 83,272 acres on the Israeli coastal plain south of the Asher-Menashe License between Caesarea in the north and Netanya in the south.

The Joseph License had an initial three-year term, which commenced on October 11, 2007 and was extended by one year, until October 11, 2011. On October 26, 2011, Zion received notification from the Israeli Petroleum Commissioner extending the term of the Joseph License by a further year, until October 10, 2012. The Joseph License may be extended for additional one-year periods up to October 10, 2014.

The Joseph License extension carries a commitment to acquire additional seismic data and to sign a drilling contract to drill a new well in the License Area (or re-enter an existing well) no later than October 1, 2012.

Richard Rinberg, Zion's Chief Executive Officer, commented that, "Earlier this year, we submitted applications to the Israeli Petroleum Commissioner for three further exploration areas: the Dead Sea License Application (covering an area of approximately 74,925 acres), the Asher-Joseph Permit Application (covering an area of approximately 80,000 acres) and the Zebulun Permit Application (covering an area of approximately 157,480 acres). If all of our applications are granted, the total petroleum exploration area under Zion's control would be approximately 530,346 acres.

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 undiscovered 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."

Tags: Zion Oil & Gas