Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (AMEX:GTE) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Ryan Ellson: Yes, two drivers on that. One, Brent price came in quite a bit lower than we originally forecasted, but also the differentials. So, those were much — much wider than we had forecasted. It was both — if you look at Vasconia, the historical average — five-year average is about $3 and it widened all the way up to $10 at one point. And Castilla, the five-year average is closer to $7 to $8 and it widened all the way up to $18, $19. So, that really hurt us in the quarter. And the rest is really just explained from working capital movements.

Oriana Covault: Perfect. That would be from my end. Thank you.

Ryan Ellson: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Josef Schachter with Schacter Energy Research. Please go ahead.

Josef Schachter: Thank you very much. Good morning Gary, Ryan and Rob. Congratulations on all the progress you made this year. A few questions. The first one will go with Ryan. Where do you see the target debt level that you’d like? You’re down below 1:1 debt to EBITDA. If we see 85 to 90 per average for Brent in 2023, you’ll generate $70 million to $100 million of free cash flow, plus you have the $100 million or so, $126 million on the balance sheet, how do you see debt in terms of where you want it to be going forward? Is there a target from the 589 that you have on the balance sheet on December 31, 2022? Is there a number you want to have? And at that point, you say that’s the amount of debt that should be in this going forward?

Or do you want to keep on knocking debt down to zero and not have debt at all? Just trying to get in my head how much money will be left over after that to increase growth via exploration and development, or by more stock buybacks, et cetera?

Ryan Ellson: Yes, it’s a good question. I think we’re comfortable with net debt-to-EBITDA of one-times. In the 0.8 times to one-times is really our comfort range. I think when we look at our gross debt, right now we’re about 580 is — our target would be between 500 and 550. And we think that will be a right capital structure for the company of our size currently.

Josef Schachter: Okay. Next question, in the releases in your government document on page nine, you talked about the exploration blocks. And you put a single star, double star there. And you have, I think, it’s two, four, six, eight, eight with one-star, which says exploration is suspended due to licensing restrictions, security issues, or social reasons. Do you see any changes to that in 2023? Or is this — and do you get extensions from the government so that you can keep these properties for future use once things settle down there?

Gary Guidry: Yes, I think the short answer to that is we’re — on a continuous basis, we’re working with the government and with the communities. The ones that are suspended are issues with communities, and it’s an ongoing process. We’ve not given up really on any of our top priority exploration projects. But there are some that we may in the end relinquish. But I can assure you that it’s none of our top priorities going forward. And so, it’s — I think the short answer is everything that we want to do, we’re doing and we’ll achieve that over the next one to three years.