Zion Oil & Gas has advised Aladdin Middle East to proceed with mobilization of the 2,000hp drilling rig that the company plans to use to drill its Ma’anit-Rehoboth 2 well in Israel.
According to the oil company, it anticipates that the required Turkish rig crew work visas will be granted soon and due to the time required to ship the drilling rig from Ankara, Turkey to Haifa, Israel. Zion has given notice to Aladdin Middle East (AME) to proceed with mobilization of the drilling rig.
It is also anticipated that the drilling rig will arrive in Israel, clear customs and be rigged-up to begin drilling in April 2009. Zion currently holds two petroleum exploration licenses, the Joseph and Asher-Menashe Licenses, between Netanya in the south and Haifa in the north, covering a total of approximately 162,000 acres.
Zion has applied for a further permit area and the application, if granted, will increase Zion’s total license area to over 400,000 acres.
Richard Rinberg, CEO of Zion, said: “We 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 15,400ft, and then, we plan, to the Permian formation, down to a depth below 18,000ft.”
