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) May 17, 2004 Berry Petroleum Company (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 1-9735 77-0079387 (State or other (Commission IRS Employer jurisdiction of File Number) Identification No. incorporation) 5201 Truxtun Avenue, Suite 300 Bakersfield, CA 93309 (Address of principal executive offices) Registrant's telephone number, including area code (661) 616-3900 N/A (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)1 Item 9. Regulation FD Disclosure (c) Exhibits The following Exhibits are hereby filed as part of this Current Report on Form 8-K: Exhibit 99 - Press Release dated May 17, 2004 regarding the Registrant's announcing the webcasting of the company's annual shareholder meeting of May 20, 2004. 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 thereunto duly authorized. BERRY PETROLEUM COMPANY By /s/ Kenneth A. Olson Name: Kenneth A. Olson Title: Corporate Secretary and Treasurer May 17, 2004
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News Release Berry Petroleum Company Phone (661) 616-3900 5201 Truxtun Avenue, Suite 300 E-mail: ir@bry.com Bakersfield, California 93309-0640 Internet: www.bry.com Contacts: Robert F. Heinemann, Chairman, Interim President and Interim CEO Ralph J. Goehring, Senior Vice President and CFO BERRY PETROLEUM COMPANY TO PROVIDE LIVE WEBCAST OF MAY 20, 2004 ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING BAKERSFIELD, CA - (BUSINESS WIRE) - May 17, 2004 - Berry Petroleum Company (NYSE: BRY), an independent oil and gas producer, will provide a live webcast of its annual shareholder meeting to be held in Bakersfield, CA on Thursday, May 20, 2004 at 3:30 pm Pacific time. Participation via the web will be in a listen-only format. A web- based replay of the meeting will also be available for 60 days following the meeting. This event is being webcast by CCBN/Thompson and can be accessed through the Investor Center at Berry's web site at www.bry.com. The webcast is also being distributed over CCBN/Thompson's Investor Distribution Network to both institutional and individual investors. Individual investors can listen to the call through the individual investor center at www.fulldisclosure.com. Institutional investors can access the call via CCBN/Thompson's password-protected event management site, StreetEvents (www.streetevents.com). Berry Petroleum Company is a publicly traded independent oil and gas production and exploitation company with its headquarters in Bakersfield, California. This release may contain descriptions of the Company's expectations regarding future business activities. These forward-looking statements are made in reliance upon safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward- looking statements. # # #