Last week, I mentioned that one of the drill bits was literally ‘torn to bits’ and that when we pulled the drill bit out of the hole, it was missing all three of its cones.

So, we had to ‘fish’ for the missing parts with a junk basket with tungsten carbide teeth, designed to rotate over the junk and rock.

The initial fishing procedure was only partially successful – we recovered one of the cones, but not the other two. We then initiated further fishing procedures and recovered a small amount of metal and some pieces of shale.

Whenever a fishing procedure is required, oilfield industry ‘best practice’ is to make no more than three attempts at a recovery.

So, after making three attempts to recover the cones and teeth and having achieved only partial success, we decided to set a cement plug at the bottom of the hole, in order to ‘sidetrack’ the hole, i.e. drill at an angle, in order to go around any remaining junk in the hole.

By giving up a few meters of the hole we would protect the drilling operation from further complications due to any unrecovered pieces of metal interfering with the drill bit.

The good news is that the mechanical condition of the well bore is very good, and we are having no problems either entering or exiting the hole with drill pipe.

This past week, we are still at a depth of approximately 17,470 feet (5,325 meters) near to our final target of approximately 18,040 feet (5,500 meters).

By the way, with regard to our drilling to date, all the indications are that, as I write, we have not yet reached the Permian geological layer, so, we plan to drill on…

Triassic Logging and Analysis of the Ma’anit-Rehoboth #2 Well

The photograph above was taken during a visit, last week, to our Caesarea office by Dr. Dorit Korngreen of the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Dr. Korngreen is an expert in dating geological strata by identifying the ‘micro-bugs’ found in rock cuttings. Her original Ph.D. was on the Triassic geological formation in Israel and she visited us in order to discuss her findings on cuttings taken from our well. She met with Zion’s Vice President, Israeli Exploration, Dr. Eliezer Kashai, and Zion’s Exploration Manager, Stephen Pierce.

We have cased our well from the surface down to approximately 15,830 feet (4,825 meters) and are looking carefully at various zones of interest.

We are (im)patiently waiting for the interpretation of the very sophisticated Triassic logging carried out by Baker Atlas (a division of Baker Hughes). That work is carried out in-house by Baker Hughes in Aberdeen, Scotland and we have asked them to concentrate on a fracture analysis of an approximately 1,000 feet (300 meter) section that lies at depths between 13,125 feet (4,000 meters) and 15,830 feet (4,825 meters).

We have already received a formation evaluation from our consultant in Houston, so slowly, but surely, we are putting all the different information together.

In my July 17 update to you, I noted that the review process of the Triassic logging and other scientific analysis would require many weeks of work, both in Israel and in the U.S.A. I understand that many are waiting for the outcome of the Triassic section of our well, but please be patient. We must ensure that our conclusions, the decisions resting on them and our announcements are both professional and prudent.

Operations on the site of the proposed Elijah #3 Well

This past week we received a (much needed) permit from Israel’s National Roads Authority allowing us to connect the drill site to the road system, in order to have safe vehicle access to the site. When we move the rig from the Kibbutz Ma’anit site, more than 1,000 tons of equipment will arrive by truck at this new site at Kibbutz Ein Carmel.

We already have a permit from Israel’s water authority (Mekorot), and the work to connect the site to a water supply has begun.

The site preparation work has also begun.