Oil Refineries Announces Resignation of CEO Yashar Ben Mordechai

HAIFA, Israel, March 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Oil Refineries Ltd. (TASE: ORL.TA) (hereinafter "the Company," "ORL"), Israel's largest integrated refining and petrochemical group, announced today that CEO, Mr. Yashar Ben Mordechai, tendered his resignation at yesterday's Board of Directors meeting, after 11 years in the role.

Mr. Ben Mordechai will retire after the appointment of a new CEO and completion of an overlapping period. Mr. Ben Mordechai accepted the Board's request to remain in the Company for an additional two years to facilitate the managing of key projects undertaken by the Company, as well as the development of new businesses.

Mr. Ben Mordechai noted: "I decided to tender my resignation after determining that the Company's strategy, initiated in 2007, was on track and in the advanced stages of implementation and that the Company was ready for the next stage of development."

Mr. Yossi Rosen, the Company's Chairman, along with the Board, thanked Mr. Ben Mordechai for contributions: "Yashar has been with the Company for over thirty years, during which the Company went from being a State-owned, to a publicly traded. He also oversaw the merger between the Company and Carmel Olefins, Haifa Basic Oils, and Gadiv; the initiation of the 2007 strategy, whose cornerstone was a $600 million investment in a hydrocracker; and various other synergetic projects. We thank him for his loyalty and leadership."

The Board will now undertake to seek a replacement for Mr. Ben Mordechai, during which he will remain in his position until a new CEO is appointed and fully on-boarded.

About Oil Refineries Ltd.

Oil Refineries Ltd. (ORL), located in the bay area of the city of Haifa, operates Israel's largest integrated refining and petrochemical group. It is one of the leading refineries in the Eastern Mediterranean area and integrates, on-site, petrochemical businesses. ORL runs sophisticated and state-of-the-art industrial facilities with a refining capacity of 9.8 million tons of crude oil per year and a Nelson Complexity Index of 7.4, providing a variety of quality products used in industrial operation, transportation, private consumption, agriculture and infrastructure. The Company's petrochemical sector produces Polymers (through its ownership of Carmel Olefins Ltd), Aromatics (through its ownership of Gadiv Petrochemical Industries Ltd), and Lube-Oils (through its ownership of Haifa Basic Oils Ltd). The Company's shares are listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker ORL. For additional information please visit http://www.orl.co.il.

ORL is controlled by the Israel Corporation Ltd. and Israel Petrochemical Enterprises Ltd., both public companies whose shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

The above noted in this release includes forward-looking statements based on Company data, as well as Company plans and estimations based on this data. The activity, results and other data may be substantially different in reality given uncertainty and various risks, including those discussed under risk factors in the Company's financial statements and Director's reports.

    
    Company Contact:
    Rony Solonicof
    Chief Economist and Head of
    Investor Relations
    Tel. +972-4-878-8152
    Contact IREn@orl.co.il

    Investor Relations Contact:
    Ehud Helft / Porat Saar
    CCG Israel
    Tel. (US) +1-646-233-2161 / (Int.) +972-52-776-3687
    info@ccgisrael.com