Berry Petroleum (BRY) News

Increases Second Quarter Production 12% to 32,854 BOED

Jul. 28, 2010 (Business Wire) -- Berry Petroleum Company (NYSE:BRY) reported net income of $89 million, or $1.64 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2010. Oil and gas revenues were $152 million during the quarter. Discretionary cash flow for the quarter totaled $142 million made up of $81 million from operations and a $61 million recovery from our claim in the Flying J bankruptcy.

Items that affected net income for the quarter included the recovery of the Flying J bankruptcy claim, a non-cash gain on hedges, non-cash items related to the Company’s Permian acquisition and dry hole costs. In total, for the second quarter of 2010, these items increased net income by approximately $66 million, or $1.22 per diluted share for an adjusted second quarter net income of $22.9 million, or $0.42 per diluted share.

For the second quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2010, average net production in BOE per day was as follows:

Robert F. Heinemann, president and chief executive officer said, “Performance from Berry’s portfolio of assets was strong in the second quarter. Production for the second quarter of 2010 was 32,854 BOE/D, 67% of which was oil production. While diatomite production declined during the quarter as we awaited new permits and optimized field production, we were able to increase companywide production by 12% during the quarter with meaningful contributions from each of our other operating areas. We are working closely with regulators and expect to resume drilling in the diatomite in the last half of 2010. We are also accelerating our Permian development program based on successful drilling results on our acquired properties and plan to operate a three rig program in the Permian for the last half of 2010. Solid operational performance and a continued focus on managing our operating costs during the second quarter allowed us to generate a corporate margin of approximately $32 per BOE, or $5.33 per Mcfe. We are maintaining our full-year 2010 production guidance of between 32,250 and 33,000 BOE/D. In addition, we settled our claim in the Flying J bankruptcy during the second quarter and received proceeds of $60.5 million on July 23, 2010 which we have used to pay down debt.”

Operational Update

Michael Duginski, executive vice president and chief operating officer, stated, “In the diatomite, average production declined from 3,570 BOED in the first quarter of 2010 to 2,730 BOED in the second quarter of 2010 as we optimized our production facilities and added infrastructure in preparation for the initiation of our 2010 drilling program. Our work in the diatomite during the second quarter should allow us to run multiple rigs and accelerate our diatomite development when new permits are issued. Outside the diatomite, performance from our other California assets was strong with average production increasing 565 BOED, a 4% increase over the first quarter of 2010. Our California assets generated operating margins of over $45 per barrel during the quarter. We executed a one rig program in the Permian during the second quarter and production from the Permian assets averaged 1,033 BOED with well productivity and development costs in line with our expectations. We began drilling with a second rig in the Permian in July 2010 and expect a third rig to commence drilling in August. In the Uinta, we drilled 26 wells during the quarter and production increased 950 BOED from the first quarter of 2010. We have completed a total of four horizontal Haynesville wells during 2010 with per well 30-day initial production rates from our second and third wells of between 9 MMcf/D and 10 MMcf/D.”

2010 Guidance

For 2010 the Company is issuing the following guidance:

Explanation and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Discretionary Cash Flow

Reconciliation of Second Quarter Net Income

Teleconference Call

An earnings conference call will be held Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Mountain Time). Dial 1-866-770-7125 to participate, using passcode 95298529. International callers may dial 617-213-8066. For a digital replay available until August 4, 2010 dial 1-888-286-8010 (passcode 10400913). Listen live or via replay on the web at www.bry.com.

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”

Any statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Words such as “expect”, "would," "will," "target," "goal," and forms of those words and others indicate forward-looking statements. Important factors which could affect actual results are discussed in PART 1, Item 1A. Risk Factors of Berry's 2009 Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 25, 2010 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.”