Zion Oil & Gas has named John Brown as the company’s interim CEO, replacing Richard J. Rinberg who resigned by mutual and amicable agreement, a news release said.

The change took effect Oct. 18.

Brown is Zion’s founder and has been a director and chairman of the board of directors since the company’s organization in April 2000. Since the company’s inception, he also served as president until October 2001 and CEO until September 2004, according to the release. Prior to founding Zion, Brown actively sought a license for oil and gas exploration in Israel for many years where his efforts led to the Israeli government’s grant in May 2000 of the Ma'anit license in the Joseph Project, the precursor to Zion’s current Joseph License.

The company also announced Lee R. Russell has joined Zion as a geoscience consultant. Russell has more than 30 years of experience in exploration play development, basin and petroleum systems analysis, seismic stratigraphy, and tectonics, the release said. He has prior work experience with Shell Oil, Arco Exploration, and a variety of other oil and gas companies.

Glen H. Perry has rejoined Zion as an operations consultant for Zion’s Israel office. Perry was a founding member of Zion, serving on the board of directors and as president and COO until 2009, according to the release. Perry has 40 years of experience in the domestic and international petroleum energy field, specializing in project evaluation and development, as well as senior management of oil and gas exploration and production companies.