Company: ZNOG
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form Type: PRE 14A
Source: 0001437749-25-009798
Chunk: 24

Company: ZION OIL & GAS INC
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form: PRE 14A
Chunk 24
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 by: (1) calculating the annual total compensation described above for each of our employees and consultants; (2) ranking the annual total compensation of all employees and consultants inclusive of the CEO from lowest to highest (a list of 35 employees and consultants), and (3) chose the employee or consultant ranked 19 as the “Median Employee”.

The Pay Ratio

As of December 31, 2024, Zion’s CEO, Mr. Dunn, had 2024 annual total compensation of $343,073 consisting of salary, option awards at fair value on the date of grant, other compensation paid directly to him, as well as various company paid benefits, as reflected in the Executive Compensation table included in this Proxy Statement and in accordance with the requirements of Item 402(c)(2)(x) of Regulation S-K. Our median employee’s annual total compensation for 2024 was $171,110, which is inclusive of company paid benefits and other benefits. We estimate that Mr. Dunn’s annual total compensation was approximately 2.00 times that of our median employee in 2024.

Our Compensation Program Decisions

Zion’s executive compensation programs are designed to:

| • | attract and retain highly qualified, talented and experienced management personnel; |

| • | motivate and reward members of management whose knowledge, skills, performance, and business relationships are critical to our success; and |

| • | align the interests of Zion’s management and stockholders in the Company’s overall success in planning and working towards multi-well, long-term exploration and drilling programs in Israel towards its mission of discovering and producing commercial quantities of oil and gas in Israel. |

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In this sense, having a competitive and market-based compensation program, as compared with Zion’s peer companies is very important.

Base Salary

All of our NEOs are subject to individual employment agreements with fixed base salaries. Because Zion remains in the development stage, the Compensation Committee has determined to maintain the salaries of our named executives, including our CEO at rates that are below average as compared with our peer companies.

Equity Awards

Our equity-based incentive program for the entire company, including executive officers, currently consists of stock option grants. As is the case with base salary, option grants are typically governed by each officer’s employment agreement.

Nonetheless, the Compensation Committee will from time-to-time grant options outside of the executive’s personal employment agreement. In determining the number of options to be granted to executive officers, the Compensation Committee takes into account the market data