Zion Oil & Gas says that, on February 24, 2009, it submitted an application to Israel’s Oil Commissioner requesting the grant of a preliminary petroleum exploration permit on approximately 245,000 acres onshore Israel, in the area that was formerly within Issachar’s and Zebulun’s ancient biblical tribal areas. The requested permit area is adjacent to and to the east of Zion’s Asher-Menashe license area. Zion has tentatively named the area as the ‘Issachar-Zebulun Permit Area’.

Zion currently holds two petroleum exploration licenses, the Joseph and Asher-Menashe Licenses, between Netanya on the south and Haifa on the north, covering a total of approximately 162,000 acres. If Zion’s Issachar-Zebulun Permit Area application is granted, it would increase Zion’s total license area to over 400,000 acres.

Zion’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Rinberg, said, “With the Issachar-Zebulun application, we have taken a positive step forward with our plan to continue building shareholder value in Zion. We now eagerly await the arrival of the 2,000 horsepower drilling rig and the drilling of Zion’s second well, on our Joseph License, to the Triassic Formation (down to a depth of 15,400 feet) and then, we plan, to the Permian Formation (down to a depth below 18,000 feet).”

Tags: Zion Oil & Gas