Gran Tierra Energy Announces Dantayaco-1 Exploration Well Results

	    Development Drilling and Additional Exploration Drilling Planning
Continuing

	    CALGARY, Jan. 6 /CNW/ - Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSE Amex: GTE; TSX:
GTE), a company focused on oil exploration and production in South America,
today announced that the company was unable to establish hydrocarbon flow from
the Dantayaco-1 exploration well in Colombia. The Company also provided an
update on the completion of Costayaco-10, the drilling of Juanambu-2 in
Colombia, and preparations for initiating natural gas sales from VM.x-1001 in
Argentina.

	    Colombia

	    Dantayaco-1

	    Drilling was completed on the Dantayaco-1 exploration well in the Chaza
Block in the Putumayo basin. Oil shows encountered during drilling and log
analysis indicated potential pay in the M1 Limestone and upper Caballos
Formation, however, only formation water was recovered during testing. Testing
operations have been suspended and the well was plugged and abandoned on
January 3, 2010.
	    Seven exploration wells have been budgeted for the Putumayo Basin in
southern Colombia for 2010. The next exploration well to be drilled will be
Moqueta-1 in the Chaza Block to the north of the Costayaco Field. Drilling is
expected to be initiated in early April 2010.

	    Costayaco-10

	    Testing of the T Sandstone and the underlying Caballos Formation has been
completed in the recently drilled Costayaco-10 development well in the
Costayaco field in the Chaza Block. Both the T Sandstone and Caballos
Formation tested oil as expected. A completion string is currently being
installed. The well is expected to be put into production at approximately
1,200 barrels of oil per day from the Caballos reservoir in order to support
Costayaco field plateau gross production of 19,000 barrels of oil per day.

	    Juanambu-2

	    The drilling of Juanambu-2, the second development well in the Juanambu
oil field, began on December 27, 2009. Drilling is expected to take
approximately 30 days. Upon completion, this well is expected to be tied into
existing infrastructure. The Juanambu oil field was discovered by Gran Tierra
Energy in 2007.

	    Argentina

	    VM.x-1001

	    Permitting applications, facility inspections and testing of systems are
nearly complete for the production infrastructure associated with the
VM.x-1001 well in the Valle Morado block in the Noroeste Basin of northern
Argentina. Sales from VM.x-1001 are targeted to commence late January 2010 at
a rate of five to six million standard cubic feet per day, priced at US$2.90
per MMbtu. Volumes will be transported and processed through existing
facilities. Workover and sidetrack operations on the well are scheduled for
July 2010, at which time pricing may be renegotiated once new production
volumes are established

	    About Gran Tierra Energy Inc.

	    Gran Tierra Energy Inc. is an international oil and gas exploration and
production company, headquartered in Calgary, Canada, incorporated in the
United States, trading on the NYSE Amex Exchange (GTE) and the Toronto Stock
Exchange (GTE), and operating in South America. Gran Tierra Energy holds
interests in producing and prospective properties in Argentina, Colombia and
Peru, and has opened a business development office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Gran Tierra Energy has a strategy that focuses on establishing a portfolio of
producing properties, plus production enhancement and exploration
opportunities to provide a base for future growth.
	    Additional information concerning Gran Tierra Energy is available at
www.grantierra.com, on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov).

	    Forward-Looking Statements

	    The statements in this press release regarding Gran Tierra Energy's
expectations, plans, projections and actions including Gran Tierra Energy's
expectations regarding the drilling of Moqueta-1 and Juanambu-2, the expected
production of Costayaco-10, and the expectations regarding gas sales from
VM.x-1001 are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S.
federal and Canadian securities laws, including Canadian Securities
Administrators' National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations
and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements
containing the words "estimates", "expects", "will", "scheduled", "may", and
variations of these words are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other
factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from
those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Although Gran Tierra
Energy believes that the assumptions underlying, and expectations reflected
in, these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance
that these assumptions and expectations will prove to be correct.
	    Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those
described in the forward-looking statements include: Gran Tierra Energy's
operations are located in South America, and unexpected problems can arise due
to guerilla activity, technical difficulties and operational difficulties
which impact the production, transportation or sale of oil and gas; changing
prices for crude oil may cause some scheduled projects or actions to become
uneconomical, or may change Gran Tierra Energy's focus to other projects or
actions which could be of more benefit to Gran Tierra Energy, which could
cause projects or actions currently contemplated to be postponed or cancelled;
unexpected problems due to technical difficulties, operational difficulties,
and weather conditions; and those other risks found in the periodic reports
filed by Gran Tierra Energy with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission, including in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
November 5, 2009, and available at the Securities and Exchange Commission's
internet site www.sec.gov and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
	    All forward-looking statements in this press release are expressly
qualified by information contained in Gran Tierra Energy's filings with
regulatory authorities and, subject to its obligations under applicable
securities laws, Gran Tierra Energy does not undertake to publicly update
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.






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	    /For further information: For media and investor inquiries please contact
David Feick, Equicom Group, (866) 973-4873, (403) 218-2862,
info@grantierra.com/