2.2.0.7 false Financial Instruments, Fair Value Measurements and Credit Risk 11001 - Disclosure - Financial Instruments, Fair Value Measurements and Credit Risk true false false false 1 USD false false Unit12 Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 Unit13 Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 Unit1 Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 $ 2 Financial Instruments, Fair Value Measurements and Credit Risk 0 gte_FinancialInstrumentsFairValueMeasurementsAndCreditRiskAbstract gte false na duration Financial Instruments, Fair Value Measurements and Credit Risk [Abstract] false false false false false true false false false false false false 1 false false false false 0 0 false false false xbrli:stringItemType string Financial Instruments, Fair Value Measurements and Credit Risk [Abstract] false 3 Financial Instruments, Fair Value Measurements and Credit Risk 1 us-gaap_FairValueDisclosuresTextBlock us-gaap true na duration No definition available. false false false false false false false false false false false terselabel false 1 false false false false 0 0 <div> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; display: block; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt;" align="left"><font style="display: inline; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;" class="_mt">10. Financial Instruments, Fair Value Measurements and Credit Risk </font></div> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; display: block;"><br /></div> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; display: block; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt;" align="left"><font style="display: inline; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt;" class="_mt">The Company's financial instruments recognized in the balance sheet consist of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities, and derivative financial instruments. The estimated fair values of the financial instruments have been determined based on the Company's assessment of available market information and appropriate valuation methodologies; however, these estimates may not necessarily be indicative of the amounts that could be realized or settled in a market transaction. As at September 30, 2010, the fair values of financial instruments approximate their book amounts due to the short term maturity of these instruments. Most of the Company's accounts receivable relate to oil and natural gas sales and are exposed to typical industry credit risks. The Company manages this credit risk by entering into sales contracts with only credit worthy entities and reviewing its exposure to individual entities on a regular basis. The book value of the accounts receivable reflects management's assessment of the associated credit risks.</font></div> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; display: block;"><br /></div> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; display: block; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt;" align="left"><font style="display: inline; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt;" class="_mt">Additionally, foreign exchange gains/losses result from the fluctuation of the U.S. dollar to the Colombian peso due to Gran Tierra's deferred tax liability, a monetary liability, which is denominated in the local currency of the Colombian foreign operations. As a result, a foreign exchange gain/loss must be calculated on conversion to the U.S. dollar functional currency. A strengthening in the Colombian peso against the U.S. dollar results in foreign exchange losses, estimated at $116,000 for each one peso decrease in the exchange rate of the Colombian peso to one U.S. dollar.</font></div> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; display: block;"> </div> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; width: 100%; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt;"> <div> <div style="width: 100%;" align="left"><font style="display: inline; font-family: Times New Roman; color: #000000; font-size: 8pt;" class="_mt">  </font></div></div> <div> <div style="text-align: center; width: 100%;"><font style="display: inline; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt;" class="_mt">15</font></div> <div style="text-align: center; width: 100%;"> <hr style="color: black;" size="2" noshade="noshade" /> </div></div> <div> <div style="width: 100%;" align="right"><font style="display: inline; font-family: Times New Roman; color: #000000; font-size: 8pt;" class="_mt">  </font></div></div></div><br /> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; display: block; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt;" align="left"><font style="display: inline; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt;" class="_mt">The Company's revenues are derived principally from uncollateralized sales to customers in the oil and natural gas industry. The concentration of credit risk in a single industry affects the Company's overall exposure to credit risk because customers may be similarly affected by changes in economic and other conditions. For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, the Company had one significant customer for its Colombian crude oil, Ecopetrol. In Argentina, the Company had one significant customer, Refiner.</font></div> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; display: block;"><br /></div> <div style="text-indent: 0pt; display: block; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt;" align="left"><font style="display: inline; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 10pt;" class="_mt">The Company recognizes the fair value of its derivative instruments as assets or liabilities on the balance sheet. The Company currently does not have any financial derivatives. Previously, none of the Company's derivative instruments qualified as fair value hedges or cash flow hedges, and accordingly, changes in fair value of the derivative instruments were recognized as income or expense in the consolidated statement of operations and retained earnings with a corresponding adjustment to the fair value of derivative instruments recorded on the balance sheet.</font></div> </div> 10. Financial Instruments, Fair Value Measurements and Credit Risk  The Company's financial instruments recognized in the balance sheet consist of cash false false false us-types:textBlockItemType textblock This item represents the complete disclosure regarding the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments, assets, and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the Company is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risk is are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 107 -Paragraph 15B -Subparagraph a, b Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 107 -Paragraph 3, 10, 14, 15 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 133 -Paragraph 44A, 44B Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 157 -Paragraph 32, 33, 34 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 107 -Paragraph 15C, 15D Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 107 -Paragraph 15A -Subparagraph a-d Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 159 -Paragraph 17-22, 27, 28 false 1 2 false UnKnown UnKnown UnKnown false true