8-K

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 3, 2019

GRAN TIERRA ENERGY INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware	001-34018	98-0479924
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

Suite 900, 520-3 Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T2P 0R3

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

(Zip Code)

(403) 265-3221

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share	GTE	NYSE American
		Toronto Stock Exchange
		London Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company  ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

(c) Appointment of Officers

On September 27, 2019, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (the “Company”) appointed Remi Anthony (“Tony”) Berthelet as Chief Operating Officer of the Company, effective October 18, 2019, to serve until his successor is chosen and qualified or until his resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal from office.

Mr. Berthelet, 49, has over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in a broad range of roles related to production, operations and exploitation engineering. Prior to his appointment at the Company, Mr. Berthelet served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Oil & Gas Ltd. since 2018. From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Berthelet was Vice President of Development and Operations at Obsidian Energy Ltd. (formerly known as Penn West Petroleum Ltd.). Prior to Obsidian, Mr. Berthelet held various development and engineering leadership positions at TAQA North Ltd. from 2012 to 2014, Terrex Energy Inc. in 2011 and Apache Corporation / Apache Canada Ltd. from 2009 to 2011. From 1998 to 2009, Mr. Berthelet held various engineering and technical positions. Mr. Berthelet is a professional engineer and holds a Bachelor Degree in Geological Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan.

Mr. Berthelet has no familial relationships with any director or other executive officer of the Company. There are no arrangements or understandings between Mr. Berthelet and any other persons pursuant to which Mr. Berthelet was appointed as Chief Operating Officer, and there are no related party transactions between Mr. Berthelet and the Company that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

A copy of the Company’s press release announcing the appointment of Mr. Berthelet as Chief Operating Officer is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

99.1	Press Release dated October 3, 2019.
104	Cover Page Interactive Data File - the cover page XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date: October 3, 2019	GRAN TIERRA ENERGY INC.
	/s/ Gary S. Guidry
	By: Gary S. Guidry
	Title: Chief Executive Officer

EX-99.1

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. Announces Appointment of Chief Operating Officer

CALGARY, ALBERTA, October 3, 2019, Gran Tierra Energy Inc. ("Gran Tierra" or the "Company") (NYSE American:GTE)(TSX:GTE)(LSE:GTE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Tony Berthelet as Chief Operating Officer ("COO"). Mr. Berthelet is a Professional Engineer with over 20 years of multi-disciplinary upstream oil and gas experience and eight years of executive level leadership experience. He has held several senior management roles focused on production, operations and asset development, including the implementation and optimization of secondary and enhanced oil recovery projects.

Prior to joining Gran Tierra, Mr. Berthelet was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Oil and Gas Ltd. ("Strategic"), where he focused on implementing operational and organizational efficiencies while growing production and value from light oil fields in Western Canada. Prior to joining Strategic, he led the revitalization of the Cardium waterflood development for Obsidian Energy Ltd. as Vice President, Development and Operations. Earlier in his career, he gained international leadership experience through project management roles focused on enhanced oil recovery evaluation projects with Vermilion Energy Inc. in France and Nexen Inc. in Yemen.

Mr. Berthelet has a Bachelor of Science (Geological Engineering) from the University of Saskatchewan, is a practicing member of The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta and holds a Project Management Professional designation from the Project Management Institute. He is also an active member of Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Message to Shareholders

Gary Guidry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gran Tierra, commented: "We are very pleased to have Tony join Gran Tierra in the new position of COO. He brings proven senior leadership capabilities and extensive experience in implementing and improving waterfloods to maximize ultimate oil recoveries. His skill set will complement the existing excellent teams at Gran Tierra and add immediate value to the Company’s ongoing production ramp-up across our portfolio and future field developments.”

Contact Information

For investor and media inquiries please contact:

Gary Guidry

President & Chief Executive Officer

Ryan Ellson

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Rodger Trimble

Vice President, Investor Relations

+1-403-265-3221

info@grantierra.com

About Gran Tierra Energy Inc.

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. together with its subsidiaries is an independent international energy company focused on oil and natural gas exploration and production in Colombia and Ecuador. The Company is focused on its existing portfolio of assets in Colombia and Ecuador and will pursue new growth opportunities throughout Colombia and Latin America, leveraging our financial strength. The Company’s common stock trades on the NYSE American, the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GTE. Additional information concerning Gran Tierra is available at www.grantierra.com. Information on the Company's website does not constitute a part of this press release. Investor inquiries may be directed to info@grantierra.com or (403) 265-3221.

Gran Tierra's Securities and Exchange Commission filings are available on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov and on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com and UK regulatory filings are available on the National Storage Mechanism website at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/nsm.

Forward-Looking Statements and Legal Advisories:

This press release contains opinions and other statements about future events or results that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and financial outlook and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), which can be identified by such terms as “expect,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “believe,” and other terms that are forward-looking in nature. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the Company’s expectations, strategies and operations.

Gran Tierra believes the material factors, expectations and assumptions reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable at this time but no assurance can be given that these factors, expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct.

Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements in this press release are the risk factors detailed from time to time in Gran Tierra’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, under the caption "Risk Factors" in Gran Tierra's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed February 27, 2019 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. These filings are available on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the fact that this press release remains available does not constitute a representation by Gran Tierra that Gran Tierra believes these forward-looking

statements continue to be true as of any subsequent date. Actual results may vary materially from the expected results expressed in forward-looking statements. Gran Tierra disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities laws. Gran Tierra’s forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

XML

Cover	Oct. 03, 2019
Cover page.
Document Type	8-K
Document Period End Date	Oct. 03, 2019
Entity Registrant Name	GRAN TIERRA ENERGY INC.
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity File Number	001-34018
Entity Tax Identification Number	98-0479924
Entity Address, Address Line One	Suite 900, 520-3 Avenue SW
Entity Address, City or Town	Calgary
Entity Address, State or Province	AB
Entity Address, Country	CA
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	T2P 0R3
City Area Code	403
Local Phone Number	265-3221
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share
Trading Symbol	GTE
Security Exchange Name	NYSEAMER
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Central Index Key	0001273441
Amendment Flag	false