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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) January 19, 2005
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 7.01. Regulation FD
(c) Exhibits
The following Exhibits are hereby furnished as part of this Current
Report on Form 8-K:
Exhibit 99 - News Release dated January 19, 2005 regarding the
Registrant's setting its 2005 capital budget at $100 million.
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
January 19, 2005
2
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, President and CEO
Ralph J. Goehring, Executive Vice President and CFO
BERRY PETROLEUM ANNOUNCES $100 MILLION CAPITAL BUDGET FOR 2005
Bakersfield, CA - January 19, 2005 - Berry Petroleum Company
(NYSE:BRY) set its 2005 capital budget at $100 million, directed
toward the development of new reserves and the increase of oil and
gas production. With $63 million allocated for the Rocky Mountain
region and $37 million for California, the Company expects to drill
134 new wells in the Rockies and 76 new wells in California, and
perform 43 workovers in the Rockies and 38 in California, according
to Robert F. Heinemann, president and chief executive officer.
Mr. Heinemann added, "We will have our most robust capital program in
the Company's history at the base level of $100 million, and pending
development results and the performance of several recent and
announced acquisitions and associated test wells, additional
opportunities could raise the total 2005 budget to as high as $135
million. We are optimistic about the additional production and
reserves that may be added, both in California and the Rockies, as a
result of our extensive program. Strategic acquisitions of new areas
and add-ons to existing acreage in 2004 significantly increased our
portfolio of development prospects, which will allow us to continue
our growth trend in 2005 and beyond. In addition, we expect our core
California oil assets to continue to provide strong cash flow for our
operations."
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
Utah
----
$45 million is budgeted for 60 new drills in the Brundage Canyon
Field with the primary focus on step-out drilling to test the
northern and southern extensions of the field, and on in-fill
drilling to 40 acre spacing in selective parts of the field. These
programs have the potential to add over 300 drilling locations to
the development.
$12 million is budgeted for other Rockies exploitation prospects.
These projects include the Coyote Flats acreage where the
objective is natural gas in the Ferron sands and Emery coal. Berry
will earn a 50% working interest in approximately 72,000
undeveloped acres upon completion of a nine well drilling program
which has commenced. Three new drills in the Lake Canyon prospect,
west of Brundage Canyon, will focus on testing the deep Mesaverde
gas zone, and shallow light oil in the Green River formation.
Colorado
--------
A minimum of 60 new wells will be drilled in the Yuma County
Niobrara natural gas assets. The Company is in the process of
acquiring these assets and expects to close the transaction within
30 days, at which time the Company will own an approximate 52%
working interest in the assets. The focus will be on in-fill
drilling to 40-acre spacing on selected acreage within these
130,000 gross acres. The expected level of capital investment in
2005 is $4 to $8 million.
CALIFORNIA
$23 million is budgeted for 60 new drills in the Midway-Sunset
Field with the focus on horizontal and vertical in-fill drilling,
potential diatomite production and steam injection wells. This
amount also includes scheduled cogeneration maintenance.
$14 million is budgeted for additional California projects. In the
Placerita Field the primary objectives are the drilling of 10
producing wells, initiation of steam flooding on the North end of
the field, conversion of six wells to injectors, and adding steam
flood equipment. In the Poso Creek Field the thermal recovery
project will be expanded by the drilling of four new wells, the
completion of numerous well remediations, and extension of the
steam injection system.
2005 Production Target
Based on this capital budget and assuming closing of the Yuma County
Niobrara acquisition, the Company anticipates that production for
2005 will average in excess of 23,000 barrels of oil equivalent per
day (BOE/day), up from 20,500 BOE/day in 2004. The Company expects
production to be approximately 87% oil and 13% natural gas and
anticipates funding its capital program from internally generated
cash flow.
Berry Petroleum Company is a publicly traded independent oil and gas
production and exploitation company with headquarters in Bakersfield,
California.
"Safe harbor under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995:" With the exception of historical information, the matters
discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that
its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no
assurance that its goals will be achieved. Important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements herein include, but are not limited to,
the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices for oil, gas and
electricity, drilling, development and operating risks, a limited
marketplace for electricity sales within California, counterparty
risk, acquisition risks, competition, environmental risks, litigation
uncertainties, the availability of drilling rigs and other support
services, legislative and/or judicial decisions and other government
or Tribal regulations.
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nr011905_capital_budget.doc