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): December 8, 2008
BERRY PETROLEUM
COMPANY
(Exact
Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
|
DELAWARE
(State
or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation
or Organization)
|
1-9735
(Commission
File Number)
|
77-0079387
(IRS
Employer
Identification
Number)
|
|
1999
BROADWAY, DENVER, CO
(Address
of Principal Executive Offices)
|
80220
(Zip
Code)
|
Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code: (303)
999-4400
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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- -
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Item 7.01
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Regulation FD
Disclosure
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On
December 8, 2008, Berry Petroleum Company issued a news release announcing a
capital budget for 2009 of $100 million. The specifics are discussed
in the new release attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1, which is incorporated by
reference in its entirety.
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
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Financial Statements and
Exhibits
|
(d)
Exhibits
99.1 News
Release by Berry Petroleum Company dated December 8, 2008, titled
“Berry Petroleum Company Sets 2009 Capital Budget at $100 Million; Targets
Production of 33,500 Barrels
of Oil Equivalent Per Day.”
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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||||
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By:
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/s/ Kenneth A.
Olson
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|||
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Kenneth
A. Olson
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||||
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Corporate
Secretary
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||||
Date:
December 8, 2008
- 2
- -
Berry
Petroleum Company Sets 2009 Capital Budget at $100 Million; Targets Production
of 33,500 Barrels of Oil Equivalent Per Day
Budget
Focuses on Highest Return Projects and Maintenance Capital
Denver, Colorado -- (BUSINESS WIRE) –
December 8, 2008
- Berry Petroleum Company (NYSE:BRY) today
announced a 2009 capital budget of $100 million, according to Robert F.
Heinemann, president and chief executive officer. At this level of
investment in 2009, the Company is targeting production to average approximately
33,500 BOED. Production growth in 2009 will increase 3% over
the 2008 estimated annual average.
Mr.
Heinemann stated, “The 2009 budget was designed to reflect development activity
in the current commodity price environment. We expect to spend $25
million to $30 million in East Texas including 2 Haynesville wells, 8 vertical
wells and the completion of the 2008 program. The Rockies budget will
be between $10 million and $15 million. The remainder of the $100 million
will be spent in California on Diatomite development and other high rate of
return heavy oil projects. The Diatomite budget will be $30 million to $35
million to drill 50 wells. The remaining California capital will be
spent on South Midway Sunset drilling and the Poso Creek expansion. The capital
program assumes West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices of $47.50/Bbl and
Henry Hub (HH) natural gas prices of $5/Mcf. If commodity prices recover back to
$75 WTI and $7.00 HH, we have a number of opportunities in our portfolio and we
would quickly implement a $200 million capital budget.”
David D.
Wolf, executive vice president and chief financial officer said, “Based on our
commodity price assumptions, we expect discretionary cash flow to be in the $220
to $240 million range. We would expect excess cash flow of over $50
million which will be applied to debt reduction. Based on our reduced
capital budget and other initiatives to reduce debt, we expect to remain in
compliance with our senior secured credit facility covenants and pay our
dividend as usual. Our strong hedge position in 2009 provides
greater than $200 million of discretionary cash flow down to $20 WTI and $4.00
HH.”
About
Berry Petroleum Company
Berry
Petroleum Company is a publicly traded independent oil and gas production and
exploitation company with operations in California, Colorado, Texas and
Utah.
The
Company uses its web site as a channel of distribution of material company
information. Financial and other material information regarding
the Company is routinely posted on and accessible at
http://www.bry.com/index.php?page=investor.
Safe
harbor under the "Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995"
Certain
statements in this news release, including but not limited to statements
regarding the credit facility and other statements that are not historical
facts, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. Although Berry believes that its expectations are
based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that these
expectations will prove correct. Important factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements
include our results of operations, general market conditions and other risks
described in PART 1, Item 1A. Risk Factors of Berry's 2007 Form 10-K/A filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2008 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” and all material changes are updated in
Part II, Item 1A within our Form 10-Qs filed subsequent to that date and
specifically in the Form 10-Q for the period ending September 30, 2008 filed on
October 29, 2008.
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