No oil at Israeli Yam 3
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In September, Shemen Oil announced that there were signs of high quality oil at Yam 3, when the well reached its target strata at a depth of 5, 700 meters.
Shemen Oil owns 77.7% of Yam 3, Zerah Oil And Gas Explorations LP (TASE:ZRAH) owns 7.15%, Zmiha Investment House Ltd. (TASE: TZMI) owns 5%, and Azerbaijan’s Caspian Drilling Company owns 10%.
Shemen Oil and its partners invested $150 million in the Yam 3 well, and another $24.4 million in the production tests.
Seismic studies by Netherland Sewell & Associates Ltd. (NSAI) indicated a best estimate of 120 million barrels of oil in the license prospect, and a 36% chance of finding 1.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Shemen Oil raised NIS 120 million at a value of NIS 700 million in its IPO in in November 2011, well below the value it had hoped to achieve.
Shemen Oil chairman Gabi Ashkenazi, a former IDF chief of staff, and CEO Yossi Levy, the former CEO of Tamar partner Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L) recently declined to exercise 605, 000 warrants that had matured. They received the options at no cost. In a statement at the time, the company said, “Ashkenazi and Levy did not exercise the Series 4 warrants following an unequivocal legal opinion that they were party to inside information that was liable to influence their decision to make this purchase.”
Published by www.globes-online.com