DALLAS and CAESAREA, Israel, Oct. 6, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. (Nasdaq:ZN) announced today that it has signed an agreement with the Geophysical Institute of Israel relating to the acquisition of approximately 15 kilometers of 2D seismic lines located within Zion's Jordan Valley License area. The acquisition is expected to begin in the last quarter of 2011 or the first quarter of 2012 and the total cost of the program, including mobilization and demobilization, is projected to be approximately US$ 380,000.
Zion's Chief Executive Officer, Richard Rinberg, said today, "The planned seismic survey in our Jordan Valley License area is being carried out in order to add to our existing data and increase the chance of success of exploratory wells in our petroleum exploration efforts. The proposed seismic acquisition is intended to help us to evaluate the next steps we need to take to identify one or more prospects within our Jordan Valley License area.
I am optimistic about the possibility of recovering hydrocarbons within our license areas, onshore Israel, especially due to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 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 symbols: "ZNWAW", "ZNWAZ" and "ZNWAL".
Zion Oil & Gas, a Delaware corporation, explores for oil and gas in Israel in areas located onshore between Haifa and Tel Aviv. It currently holds three petroleum exploration licenses: the Joseph License (on approximately 83,272 acres) and the Asher-Menashe License (on approximately 78,824 acres) between Netanya, in the south, and Haifa, in the north, and the Jordan Valley License (on approximately 55,845 acres), just south of the Sea of Galilee. The total license area amounts to approximately 218,000 acres.
The Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6850
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements in this communication that are not historical fact, including statements regarding Zion's planned operations, geophysical and geological data and interpretation, anticipated attributes of geological strata being drilled, drilling efforts and locations, the presence or recoverability of hydrocarbons, plans to include up to 15 km of 2D seismic, that acquisition is expected to begin in 2011 or 2012, that the cost will be as projected, that the results will improve the quality of existing data and increase the chances of success of planned exploratory wells, timing and potential results thereof and plans contingent thereon are forward-looking statements as defined in the "Safe Harbor" provisions 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.
Zion's homepage may be found at: www.zionoil.com