Gran Tierra Energy Inc. announced in a press release the results of a qualified independent reserve evaluation of the company’s Peru reserves by GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd. effective Dec. 31, 2013.

The company has successfully booked significant reserves at the Bretana field in Peru. “On a proved plus probable [2P] and proved plus probable plus possible [3P] basis, the Bretana field reserves nearly double the total corporate 2P and 3P reserves booked at year-end 2012,” Dana Coffield, the company’s president and CEO, said in the release. “We are currently planning on initiating long-term test production from this field beginning in September 2014, with an appraisal well planned to be drilled in the fourth quarter of this year in the southern portion of the Bretana field.”

Furthermore, additional unbooked resource potential has been identified in an extension of the Bretana structure on recently acquired and interpreted 2-D seismic, according to the release.

Gran Tierra operates and holds a 100% working interest in Block 95. The company is scheduled to spud a water-injector well in 1Q 2014 and begin drilling the Bretana Sur appraisal well on the southern portion of the field in 4Q 2014. Long-term test production from the Bretana-1ST well is anticipated to start in September 2014 at a rate of approximately 2,500 b/d gross of oil. The long-term test will provide valuable information on the reservoir to optimize field development, in addition to providing early cash flow, Gran Tierra said.

The company’s 2014 capital spending program for the Bretana field is US $107 million, consistent with the previously reported $148 million 2014 capital spending program for Peru, and includes long-term test facilities, drilling a water disposal well, platform construction and drilling of an appraisal well, FEED for field development, and additional related costs, according to the release.

The preliminary Bretana full field development plan, based on an independent third-party preliminary, FEED study, and internal estimates, contemplates $1.197 billion in future capital spending. This capital spending is associated with developing the 2P reserves over the next 11 years with peak annual capital spending of approximately $275 million expected to come in 2020. First long-term test production is expected to start September 2014 with the next production phase expected to begin in 2017 at approximately 6,000 b/d gross of oil.

Plateau production is expected to be initiated in approximately 2021 and continue for approximately two to four years at between 20,000 b/d gross to 40,000 b/d gross of oil depending on ultimate definition of recoverable reserves size and reservoir performance characteristics, according to the release. The pre-tax NPV10 of the 2P reserves (Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] compliant) is approximately $624 million, while the pre-tax NPV10 of the 3P reserves (SEC compliant) is approximately $1.495 billion. The pre-tax NPV10 of the 2P reserves (NI51-101 compliant) is approximately $376 million, while the pre-tax NPV10 of the 3P reserves (NI51-101 compliant) is approximately $1.130 billion. Development optimization opportunities with the potential to increase value will continually be evaluated.

A new 2-D seismic program over the Bretana field was acquired in late 2013, Gran Tierra said in the release. This seismic program identified a structural extension of the Bretana field, which has a previously drilled well, Envidia-1, located on its flank. The Envidia-1 well had oil shows above the oil-water contact of the Bretana field but was not tested. The structural closure above the Bretana field oil-water contact in the south lobe containing the Envidia-1 well encompasses approximately 6,700 acres. The resource potential of this structural extension is not included in the Bretana field reserve assessment and offers additional upside potential for the Bretana field development in the future.