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): January 27, 2006 (January 27, 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
Janurary 27, 2006, Berry Petroleum Company issued a news release
announcing that it has entered into an agreement with a private seller to
acquire a 50% working interest in natural gas assets in the Piceance Basin
of
western Colorado. 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 January 27, 2006 titled "Berry
Petroleum Company Announces Piceance Basin Acquisition."
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/
Kenneth A. Olson
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Kenneth
A. Olson
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Corporate
Secretary
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Date:
January 27, 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 ANNOUNCES PICEANCE BASIN ACQUISITION
Bakersfield,
CA - January 27, 2006
- Berry
Petroleum Company (NYSE:BRY) announced that it has entered into an agreement
with a private seller to acquire a 50% working interest in natural gas assets
in
the Piceance Basin of western Colorado for approximately $150 million in cash.
Berry internally estimates 330 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of reserves, which
are
comprised of 26 Bcf of proved reserves and 304 Bcf of probable reserves. Berry
has identified over 600 drilling locations based on 10-acre downspacing.
Robert
Heinemann, president and chief executive officer, stated, “This is a tremendous
opportunity for Berry as we diversify our portfolio with another long-lived,
low
geologic risk natural gas asset that is an excellent entry into the prolific
Piceance Basin. We will be the operator and own a 50% working interest in 6,314
gross acres targeting gas in the Williams Fork section of the Mesaverde
formation. We anticipate that our full-life finding and development cost will
be
less than $2.20 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) and are increasing our 2006
capital budget by an additional $30 million to $190 million to develop this
resource. We have two rigs dedicated to this project and based on the
productivity of this acreage and surrounding producing operations we estimate
that we will prove up significant reserves by the end of 2006. We are seeking
to
add additional drilling rigs to accelerate development and intend to hedge
a
portion of our future production from the asset.”
The
effective date of the transaction is October 1, 2005. Closing is expected by
March 1, 2006 and will be funded under the Company’s existing credit facility.
The completion of the transaction is subject to certain conditions and there
is
no assurance that all such conditions will be satisfied.
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. Since 2003, Berry has added over 1,000,000
acres to its oil and gas asset portfolio with acreage in California, Utah,
Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and North Dakota.
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
“will,”
“estimates,” “expected,” “anticipate,” “intend,” 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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