Drilling Begins! Zion Oil & Gas Spuds Megiddo-Jezreel #1 Well

DALLAS, and CAESAREA, Israel, June 4, 2017

"It has been a complicated and difficult multi-year journey to get to this point, but our entire team is very excited to see this project finally come to fruition.  We anticipate drilling through at least four different geologic strata with oil and gas potential," stated Victor G. Carrillo, Zion's CEO.

Echoing Victor's statement, Zion's President and Chief Operating Officer, Dustin Guinn, said, "The process to finally be able to start drilling has been met with obstacles and patience-testing trials, but we believe we have assembled a team that is very hard working and committed.  We are extremely proud of the work that has been done and look forward to a successful well.  We are thankful to our shareholders and supporters for their faithfulness to stand with us during these last few years."

Zion is contracting with world class service providers such has Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Weatherford and highlighted by DAFORA's F-400 drilling rig.  The rig has a 3,000 HP capacity drawworks capable of drilling to over 7,000 meters (~23,000 feet). This provides more than sufficient horsepower and safety factor to drill our planned well with a target depth of up to 4,500 meters (~15,000 feet).

Depending on the results of the planned exploratory well and subject to adequate cash resources, multiple wells could be drilled from this pad site, as several subsurface geologic targets can be reached using directional trajectories for subsequent wells.

In 2015, an independent study by the international consulting company Beicip-Franlab, concluded that up to 6.6 billion barrels of oil (in-place best estimate) remain to be found in the offshore portion of Israel's Levant Basin.  Zion's Megiddo-Jezreel License area, though onshore, is entirely within the Levant Basin and is well positioned to encounter the key geologic ingredients of an active petroleum system.