(13) Given the fact that one of the criteria for obtaining the license was cooperation with an operator with proven professional ability in oil drilling, Ben-Zaken met, on December 6, 2010, with various officials at Noble Energy, which is an international company specializing in the exploration, drilling, development and production of natural gas and crude oil around the world, but the meeting did not result in a cooperation agreement;
(14) On February 7, 2011, a cooperation agreement was signed between Shemen and CDC (hereinafter – CDC), according to which CDC will be appointed as the "operator" (subject to the approval of the relevant parties in Israel) and will hold 5% of the rights in the drilling. At the same time, and as required by the new criteria, Shemen raised $50 million, in a private placement. This amount was deposited in an escrow account;
(15) On February 23, 2011, ACC submitted the request to transfer the drilling rights to the Oil Company, but on March 16, 2011, the Petroleum Council rejected the request in the absence of proven financial capability on the part of the Oil Company.
In his statement, Shimon Cohen referred to the position of the Ministry of Energy: "I conducted an examination, which included an examination of the economic material that was submitted with the request for the transfer of rights. In the first stage, ACC submitted a letter from Orlitzky, CPA, that the company has a sum of $50 million in shekels following a private offering. Prior to the hearing, I informed ACC that they did not meet the requirements since no audited financial statements were attached. In light of this, I received audited financial statements from the oil company. I examined the company's financial statements, which supposedly indicated that the company has liquid assets of over NIS 170 million, but in these reports, it was noted that these funds were deposited in an escrow account and that the completion of the transaction would be made immediately after the approval of the rights by the Ministry of Infrastructures. As far as I'm concerned, the reservations that were in the reports did not assure me that the company was meeting the financial capabilities as required..." (P/254 S. 189-198);