Israeli company on TSX

PAUL LUNGEN CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS

When Alan Friedman makes his pitch on behalf of Adira Energy, he likes to recount a story that was told by Golda Meir, but with a 21st-century twist.

Meir used to say that, in ancient times, Moses “took us 40 years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil,” Friedman will joke. The story, of course, reflects the late prime minister’s frustration that Israel had no bounteous natural resources to exploit, unlike many of its neighbors.

It turns out, that story is so 20th century. In fact, Friedman explained, one of the world’s largest discoveries of natural gas, measured in trillions of cubic feet, has been found in Israel’s front yard. And Adira is well situated to exploit it.

Adira Energy is the first Israeli resource company to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange’s Venture Exchange (TSXV). It had also been listed on the OTCBB, a listing service for penny stocks.

The TSX listing gives the company the opportunity to entice investment funds whose internal governance requires a listing on a prominent exchange, with all the regulatory and capital requirement they entail.

“We are excited to bring the first Israeli venture to the Toronto Stock Exchange,” said Friedman, co-founder and executive vice-president of Adira Energy (TSXV-ADL). “The TSX is host to over 35 per cent of all oil and gas companies listed globally and more than $60 billion [Cdn] has been raised for the sector since 2002.”

“Adira’s listing on TSX is positive evidence of the growing trade and investment ties between Canada and Israel, and the mutual benefits for the people of both countries,” added Dennis Bennie, co-founder and chair of Adira. “Adira will gain wisdom from Canada’s tremendous expertise in natural resource exploration. But we are especially proud to be making history, and paving the way for even greater opportunities for both Canadians and Israelis into the future.”

Friedman said Adira’s listing on the TSX provides an opportunity for the company to attract major-league investors with expertise in the oil and gas sector. Apparently, there is already some interest in the firm. The company recently raised $11 million US to qualify for TSX listing – it needed to raise only $5 million and, in the end, turned away potential investors – and, on its first day of trading, it closed at 55 cents Cdn on a volume of 59,500 shares. It raised the $11 million by offering 27.5 million units at 40 cents US. The currencies have been almost at par.

According to a report by Jennings Capital, which sponsored Adira’s financing, “The company holds three offshore exploration licences: the Gabriella, Yitzhak and Samuel licences, and two onshore licenses, the Eitan and Notera licences.

“Adira’s offshore Israeli blocks hold significant potential, as the offshore areas have seen significant success of late, such as Noble Energy’s Dalit, Mari and Tamar discoveries that hold 1.0 trillion cubic feet (tcf), 2.0 tcf and 8.4 tcf of reserves, respectively.

“Tamar was the largest natural gas discovery in the world in 2009. Initial expectations target first production from Tamar by the end of 2012.”

Friedman said Adira’s licences run north from Gaza for 60 kilometres to the area around Netanya and are a few kilometres offshore in fairly shallow water. Funds that have been raised will go toward exploration and evaluation of seismic tests to determine the extent of the gas reserves below the surface.

Once the extent of the reserves are determined, the company will have to raise further sums, since it costs $30 million to $150 million to drill a single well, Friedman said.

Friedman, who has been in the “oil and gas space a long time,” said some prestigious investors have already sunk their money into Adira, including BRM Group, an Israeli investment company led by Eli Barkat; Lapidoth Israel Oil Prospectors, Israel’s only oil and gas drilling company; and the Halman Aldubi Group, a leading financial services company in Israel.

For more national news, visit cjnews.com.

^TOP