Gran Tierra Energy Inc. Announces Test Results of Arawana-J1 Discovery and Provides Ecuador Exploration Update

Gran Tierra Energy release

CALGARY, Alberta, May 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (“Gran Tierra” or the “Company”) (NYSE American:GTE) (TSX:GTE) (LSE:GTE) today announced an operational update. All dollar amounts are in United States dollars, and production amounts are on an average working interest before royalties (“WI”) basis unless otherwise indicated. Per barrel (“bbl”) and bbl of oil per day (“BOPD”) amounts are based on WI sales before royalties.

Message to Shareholders

Gary Guidry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gran Tierra, commented: “Gran Tierra is thrilled to announce the test results from the Arawana-J1 well (100% WI, Operator), marking a significant milestone for our operations in Ecuador. These results not only highlight the potential of the Arawana field area but continues to demonstrate the success of our exploration program in our core southern Colombia (Rose discovery) and northern Ecuador (Bocachico and Charapa Norte discoveries). We are very excited that the closest analogue to the Arawana field area, in terms of closure, thickness, rock and fluid properties, is our Cohembi field located in Colombia’s South Putumayo Basin, which we operate and is located just 20 km to the north. As disclosed with our latest annual Company reserves disclosure as of December 31, 2023, the ultimate gross Proved plus Probable (“2P”) original recoverable reserves from Cohembi as estimated by McDaniel & Associates Consultants Ltd., the Company’s independent qualified reserves evaluator is 82 million bbls. A major advantage of operating in both Ecuador and Colombia is the ability to quickly monetize production from new discoveries. With nearby infrastructure and regulatory approvals already in place, we are well-positioned to quickly appraise and develop the Arawana field. We will utilize Gran Tierra’s strong cash flow, solid balance sheet, and new production from this discovery to fund the development.

In addition, to our progress testing Arawana-J1, we are pleased to provide an update on our drilling operations. The rig that drilled Arawana-J1 was moved to the Bocachico Norte-J1 well cellar, where the Bocachico Norte-J1 well (100% WI, Operator) was spud on May 24^th, marking the start of the second exploration well in our 2024 exploration plan. As of May 27^th, the well is drilling ahead at approximately 6,670 feet to an expected total depth of approximately 10,800 feet. Following the drilling and completion of the Bocachico Norte-J1 well, the rig will move to the Charapa Block (100% WI, Operator) to commence drilling three exploration wells. Once this phase is complete, the rig will return to the Chanangue block to drill two additional exploration wells from the K pad, Zabaleta-K1 and Zabaleta Oeste-K1 (100% WI, Operator). We are particularly excited about the Zabaleta wells, as they are positioned up dip from Arawana-J1 and on the structural high, promising further potential for significant discoveries in the vertically stacked intervals of the Basal Tena, U-Sand, T-Sand and Hollin high permeability sandstones. Gran Tierra is currently working closely with the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Ecuador to fast track the exploration and development of all of Gran Tierra’s Ecuadorian blocks.

The Arawana-J1 discovery, which was the highest-risk well in our 2024 exploration program, has set the stage for Gran Tierra to deliver strong reserve results and has opened another development horizon in Ecuador that we expect to fully fund from internally generated cash flow. This success also validates our refined geological model, which has proven effective with the last four exploration wells yielding four oil discoveries. We are confident that our future development and exploration programs will continue to drive our growth and success in the region.”

The full release is available here.