FORM 3 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.  20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility
Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person^*
Thorington, Stephen A. (Last)                      (First)                      (Middle)
Plains Resources Inc. 500 Dallas, Suite 700 (Street) Houston,    TX   77002 (City)                      (State)                      (Zip)
2. Date of Event
Requiring Statement
    Month/Day/Year
12/11/2002
3. I.R.S. Identification
    Number of Reporting
    Person, if an entity
    (voluntary) 4. Issuer Name andTicker or Trading Symbol
Plains Resources Inc.

5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)
   Director      10% Owner    Officer (give title below)    
X Other (specify below)
Description     Acting Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer 6. If Amendment,
    Date of Original
    (Month/Day/Year)

7. Individual or Joint/Group
    Filing (Check Applicable Line)
X   Form filed by One Reporting Person      Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

1. Title of Security     (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned     (Instr.4)	3. Ownership Form:     Direct (D)     or     Indirect (I)     (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership     (Instr. 5)
Common Stock	45,000	D

Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security     (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable(DE) and     Expiration Date(ED)     (Month/Day/Year)   DE     /     ED	3. Title and Amount of     Underlying Securities     (Instr. 4) Title     /         Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conver-     sion or     Exercise     Price of     Deri-     vative     Security	5. Owner- ship Form of Deriv- ative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr.5)	6. Nature of       Indirect       Beneficial       Ownership       (Instr.5)
	/	/	$

Explanation of Responses:

By:
/s/ Stephen A. Thorington                                                                                                12/16/2002
** Signature of Reporting Person                                                                                    Date      

SEC 1473 (07/02)

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
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