UNITED
STATES
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): February 16, 2006 (February 15,
2006)
BERRY
PETROLEUM COMPANY
(Exact
Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
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DELAWARE
(State
or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation
or Organization)
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1-9735
(Commission
File Number)
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77-0079387
(IRS
Employer
Identification
Number)
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5201
TRUXTUN AVE., STE. 300, BAKERSFIELD, CA
(Address
of Principal Executive Offices)
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93309
(Zip
Code)
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Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code: (661)
616-3900
Check
the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following
provisions:
o
Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR
230.425)
o
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12)
o
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
o
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
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Item 7.01 Regulation
FD
On
February 15, 2006, Berry Petroleum Company issued a news release
announcing the Company's 2005 proved reserves. The information
contained in the press release is incorporated herein by reference and furnished
as Exhibit 99.1.
The
information in this Current Report on Form 8-K and Exhibit 99.1 is being
furnished and shall not be deemed "filed" for the purposes of Section 18 of
the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the
liabilities of that Section.
Item 9.01 Financial
Statements and Exhibits
(c)
Exhibits
99.1
News
Release by Berry Petroleum Company dated February 15, 2006 titled "Berry
Petroleum Company Replaced 296% of 2005 Production and Increased Proved Reserves
by 15%".
SIGNATURES
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 hereto
duly authorized.
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BERRY
PETROLEUM COMPANY
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By:
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/s/
Shawn M. Canaday
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Shawn
M. Canaday
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Assistant
Corporate Secretary
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Date: February
16, 2006
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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
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Contacts:
Robert F. Heinemann, President and CEO - - Ralph J. Goehring, Executive
Vice President and CFO
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BERRY
PETROLEUM REPLACED 296% OF 2005 PRODUCTION AND
INCREASED
PROVED RESERVES BY 15%
Bakersfield,
CA - February 15, 2006
- Berry
Petroleum Company (NYSE:BRY) announced that estimated proved oil and gas
reserves increased by 15% to 126 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) as
of
December 31, 2005. In 2005, Berry added 24.9 million BOE at a reserve
replacement cost of $9.44 per BOE and replaced 296% of the 8.4 million BOE
(23,015 BOE per day) it produced.
Acquisitions
accounted for 176% of production replacement and drilling activities replaced
120% of production. At year-end 2005, the Company’s reserve mix was 74% heavy
crude oil, 8% light crude oil and 18% natural gas, and geographically, 74%
in
California and 26% in the Rocky Mountain region while the year-end
reserves-to-production ratio was unchanged at 14.6 years. Proved developed
reserves represent 71% of total proved reserves. The estimated pre-tax present
value of Berry’s proved reserves increased by 105% to $1.8 billion ($1.25
billion after-tax) at year-end 2005. This calculation is based on a 10% discount
rate of the Company’s expected future cash flows based on constant year-end
prices for the Company’s production of $48.38 for oil and $7.91 for natural gas.
Robert
Heinemann, president and chief executive officer, stated, “Of the 24.9 million
BOE added in 2005, 14.8 million BOE of proved reserves came from the eastern
Colorado Niobrara acquisition, 6.5 million BOE from the Rockies development
and
3.6 million BOE from California development activities. Results from our
California Diatomite project continue to be encouraging and we booked 2.5
million BOE of reserves based on asset performance. Likewise, we booked almost
16 Bcf (2.6 million BOE) of additional reserves from our Niobrara assets due
to
our aggressive drilling program since the purchase of the properties last
January.”
Mr.
Heinemann continued, “Our goal for 2006 and beyond is to continue to add
reserves by both acquisition and through the drill bit. We have a $190 million
capital budget for 2006 to develop our known resource base and appraise our
prospective acreage. We expect reserve adds for 2006 to come primarily from
Brundage Canyon, Tri-State Niobrara (specifically eastern Colorado and Kansas),
our California Diatomite project and the announced acquisition in the Piceance
Basin (pending closing). Approximately half of our capital budget is focused
on
converting our probable and possible reserves into proved reserves and our
appraisal and exploratory projects.”
About
Berry Petroleum Company
Berry
Petroleum Company is a publicly traded independent oil and gas production and
exploitation company with its headquarters in Bakersfield, California and a
regional office in Denver, Colorado.
Safe
harbor under the “Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995”
Any
statements in this news release that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Words such
as
“goal,”
“expect,”“continue,”
and
others indicate forward-looking statements and important factors which could
affect actual results are discussed in Part II of Berry’s Form 10-K filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, under the heading "Other Factors
Affecting the Company's Business and Financial Results" in the section titled
"Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations."
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