Adira Energy Suspends Operations On Gabriella License Offshore Israel
TORONTO, February 11, 2013 /CNW/ - ADIRA ENERGY LTD. (TSXV: ADL) (OTCBB: ADENF) (FRANKFURT: AORLB8). Further to the announcement on January 31, 2013, Adira Energy Ltd. (“Adira” or the “Company”) announces that it is suspending operations on the Gabriella License due to lack of funding and lack of reasonable expectation of funding by certain parties sufficient to pursue the current work program; lack of agreement among the license holders regarding how to proceed under the circumstances; and due to the fact that Modi’in Energy L.P. (“Modi’in”) has not met its obligations under the Joint Operating Agreement (the “JOA”) or under other agreements in place among the JOA parties.
As the operator of the Gabriella License (the “Operator”) the Company’s obligation under the JOA is to (among other things) exercise due care with respect to the receipt, payment and accounting of funds in accordance with good and prudent practices generally followed by the international petroleum industry under similar circumstances. The Operator cannot continue to engage service providers and providers of equipment and material, without sufficient cash in the joint account, and with no reasonable expectation of cash being provided by the license partners.
As such, Adira has suspended operations on the Gabriella License. The Company continues to work with the all of its partners on the license to resolve these issues.
About Gabriella
The Gabriella License is located approximately 10 kilometers northwest of Tel Aviv, in the waters offshore Israel. The block covers an area of approximately 392 square kilometers (97,000 acres) and is in water depths that range from 100 meters on the east side of the block to just over 425 meters on the southwest side of the block. Adira holds a 15% Working Interest in the Gabriella License and is the designated Operator. On March 13, 2012, the Company announced it received an independent resource report prepared by Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. which included a best estimate of 110.1 MMbbl of contingent oil on the Gabriella License on a gross unrisked basis. Full resource report is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com)
About Adira Energy Ltd.
Adira Energy Ltd. is an oil and gas company which is focused in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Company has three petroleum exploration licenses offshore Israel; the Gabriella, Yitzhak and Samuel Licenses. These licenses are located respectively 10 km offshore between Netanya and Ashdod, 17 km offshore between Hadera and Netanya and adjacent to the coast between Ashkelon and Bat-Yam. The Company also has an option on the Yam Hadera License, offshore Israel, which is located 30 kilometers offshore Israel, between Hadera and Haifa and North West of Adira’s Yitzhak license.
