ZION OIL & GAS is mobilising its drilling rig, currently situated at the Elijah #3 well, to resume production testing operations on the Maanit-Rehoboth #2 well.p>ZION OIL & GAS is mobilising its drilling rig, currently situated at the Elijah #3 well, to resume production testing operations on the Maanit-Rehoboth #2 well.
Zion completed drilling the Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 well in September 2009 and decided, based on the best information then available, to move its drilling rig to begin drilling its Elijah #3 well, intending to attempt to test and complete the Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 well with a small workover rig.
However, Bill Ottaviani, Zion's newly appointed President and Chief Operating Officer, decided that a temporary suspension of operations at the Elijah #3 was a prudent course of action in order to expedite production testing at the Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 well. He commented, "Following the drilling of our Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 well, we have continued to observe evidence of reservoir pressure and the presence of hydrocarbons at the surface. Our geologists have identified several potential hydrocarbon-bearing intervals from the diagnostic data acquired when the Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 well was drilled. We are currently fine-tuning our plans for production testing these intervals and are looking forward to resuming operations at the Ma'anit-Rehoboth #2 well. As we have stated in the past, we are unsure as to whether we have made a discovery of any hydrocarbon reservoir or, if such a reservoir exists, whether it would be commercially viable."