The Tel Aviv Regional Planning and Building Commission today approved the exploratory well planned at the Gabriella license offshore from Herzliya, after dismissing objections filed by the Zalul divers and environmental organization and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.
Modiin Energy LP (TASE:MDIN.L), controlled by Tzahi Sultan and Nochi Dankner's IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH), and Adira Energy Corporation (TSXV: ADL; Bulletin Board: ADENF; XETRA: AORLB8) own the rights to the offshore Gabriella license. Drilling is due to begin in the first half of this year.
Modiin Energy's share price rose 17.2% by mid-afternoon to NIS 0.21, giving a market cap of NIS 92 million.
The Society for the Protection of Nature warned that the Gabriella well was an experimental well located just 19 kilometers offshore in the area of a proposed marine nature reserve. "The drilling was approved even though the warning by the minister of environmental protection that Israel is not prepared to deal with the disaster of an offshore oil leak, and despite the objections by the Herzliya Municipality and environmental organizations," it said in the objections.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 14, 2013
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