Gran Tierra CEO puts faith in Caracal execs

CALGARY — The appointment on Monday of four new executives at South American oil and gas explorer Gran Tierra Energy Inc. adds needed expertise after the end of a proxy battle for the Calgary-based company, the new CEO says.

Gary Guidry became president and chief executive when the existing board agreed to go along with demands by Toronto hedge fund West Face Capital — holder of 9.8 per cent of its shares — to reconstitute its board and management. The new executives worked with Guidry at Caracal Energy Inc. until it was sold a year ago to Glencore Xstrata PLC for $1.35 billion.

“I think it’s what the company needs, to focus on what we’re going to focus on, which is lower-risk Colombia opportunities. Full cycle, from exploration to appraisal to development, these are the right people,” he said.

Guidry said in an interview Monday he has personally invested $6.5 million in the company, adding he and his team think its assets are very valuable.

He said Gran Tierra has been too tightly focused on the Putumayo basin in Colombia and the new team will also look for opportunities in the mature Llanos and Magdalena basins, while evaluating other options globally.

Caracal was focused on the African nation of Chad, but Guidry said the team has worked all over the world.

“We have expertise and, more important, I think it’s expertise working in any country internationally and expertise working in any commodity, whether it’s heavy or light oil, whether it’s natural gas or oil,” he said.

The company said Ryan Ellson will replace James Rozon, a seven-year Gran Tierra employee, as chief financial officer.

Ellson was most recently head of finance for Glencore E&P Canada after moving from Caracal, where he was VP of finance.

The company also appointed Alan Johnson as vice-president of asset management, Lawrence West as vice-president of exploration and Jim Evans as vicepresident of compliance and corporate services. Johnson and Evans were also last employed by Glencore.

Under the deal announced last week, Guidry replaces interim CEO Duncan Nightingale, and West Face Capital nominees were offered six seats in an expanded eightperson board of directors.

Shareholders will vote on the new board at the company’s annual general meeting on June 24.

Dana Coffield, Gran Tierra’s longtime chief executive — and one of its founders in 2005 — was dismissed earlier this year after the company reported exploration failures and a substantial writedown on its properties in Peru.