Oil price spike helps boost energy company

At least Gran Tierra Energy (AMEX: GTE, Stock Forum) is not a penny stock any more. As a matter of fact, it has moved from a 52-week low of 90 cents to $6.60.

GTE's business is oil exploration and production in South America. Sounds like there may be a lot of competition. But the company had a good Q1. Revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2008 was $20.8 million as compared to $4.5 million for the same period in 2007. Net income increased to $4.7 million compared to a loss of $6.7 million last year.

Production in Colombia pushed revenue higher. The increase in oil to over $80 per barrel from $46 helped. If world oil prices keep rising, GTE could be in for an even better ride. There was a little bit of negative news in the quarter. The company had to restate some financials from previous years, but the issue seems benign.

GTE has a big positive in the rising price of oil, and a big negative in terms of its modest size. It only has $18 million in cash. But, with a market cap under $700 million, another good quarter or two could push the share price up further.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

From the news desk of 24/7 Wall St.

This report was prepared by 24/7 Wall St., LLC exclusively for Stockhouse.

Stockhouse Conflict and Disclosure Policy:

Stockhouse publishing Ltd., owners and operators of Stockhouse.com, has established the following rules to ensure that there is no appearance of impropriety on the part of any Stockhouse Editorial writers ("Writers"). The content of Stockhouse Editorial articles (the "Articles") are the opinion of the Writer and any reliance on the content of these articles is at your sole risk. Our Writers are not registered investment advisors. You should not make any kind of investment decision in relation to Articles or stocks discussed in them without obtaining advice from a registered investment advisor.

Facts relied upon by our Writers are generally provided by the subject companies or gathered by our Writers from other public and/or private sources. These facts may be in error and if so, the opinions of our Writers may be materially different.

Writers may own, buy, or sell shares in public companies mentioned in their Articles, but in the Article they must prominently state their ownership position. Thus, a conflict may exist. Writers are not permitted to write Articles that attempt to benefit persons connected to the Writer, such as family or friends, except where disclosure is made in the same way as if the Writer him/herself owns stock.

Writers cannot solicit, accept, or agree to receive anything of value given or paid with the intent of influencing their Articles.

Stockhouse notifies each Writer about these rules, and we rely on the integrity of our Writers to ensure that our rules are followed.