[1][2] In 1996, Sonol, a wholly owned subsidiary of Granite Hacarmel, invested $1.5 million in the company.
[3] In 2006, it was reported that 73% of the company shares would be acquired by a group of investors led by Israeli businessman Ofer Glazer.
In the shale oil extraction process (US Patent 5372708) invented in 1992 by Moshe Gvirtz (also spelled as Moshe Gewertz) and promoted by Hom Tov, oil shale fine particles are slurried with waste bitumen and pumped through coils in a heater.
[5] The company also claimed that the technology was more efficient as it enables the oil shale to be processed at somewhat lower temperatures with the addition of the catalyzing bitumen, and more environmentally friendly than classical shale oil extraction methods.
[6] The Mishor Rotem plant would bring bitumen 80 kilometres (50 mi) by pipeline from the Ashdod refinery and return product along the same corridor.