Zion Oil & Gas has advised that Aladdin Middle East Ltd (AME) should proceed with mobilization of the 2,000 horsepower drilling rig that Zion plans to use to drill its Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 well.

Zion anticipates that the required Turkish rig crew work visas will be granted soon and due to the time required to ship the drilling rig (which has already been packed into eighty loads) from Ankara, Turkey to Haifa, Israel, Zion has given notice to AME to proceed with mobilization of the drilling rig. It is anticipated that the drilling rig will arrive in Israel, clear customs and be fully rigged-up (i.e. erected) to begin drilling in April 2009.

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. Zion has applied for a further permit area (tentatively named by Zion the Issachar-Zebulun Permit Area) and the application, if granted, will increase Zion’s total license area to over 400,000 acres.

Zion’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Rinberg, said today, “We eagerly anticipate 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