Gran Tierra Energy's shares look set to rally at the opening bell after the energy company reached a $1.33 billion deal to sell its oil business in Colombia and Ecuador to Etablissements Maurel & Prom.
In premarket trading, the shares were 48% higher at $10.17 in New York. The stock last closed in Toronto at C$9.67, up 65% so far this year.
The sale of the asset will leave Gran Tierra's producing operations be focused on Canada, though it will continue to chase exploration interests in Azerbaijan and other new growth opportunities.
The business being sold represents about 29,000 barrels of oil a day of Gran Tierra's average working-interest production in the first half of 2026, roughly 144 million barrels of proved-plus-probable reserves and 1.4 million gross acres across Colombia and Ecuador.
Gran Tierra said the $1.33 billion enterprise value the sale represents includes 9.750% senior secured amortizing notes due 2031 and 9.500% senior notes due 2029, as well as the prepayment facility. Paris-listed Maurel & Prom is majority owned by a subsidiary of Indonesia's national energy company, PT Pertamina.
Gran Tierra said a portion of the net cash proceeds from the sale is expected to be returned to shareholders through the repurchase of shares, and the balance will be retained to fund its activities in Canada and Azerbaijan. The deal transfers the company's South American business and substantially all of its net liabilities to Maurel & Prom, leaving Gran Tierra debt-free with significant liquidity, including about $250 million in cash on close, it said.
In the second quarter of the year, Gran Tierra's average production reached 41,501 barrels of oil equivalent a day.