8-K

 
                      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): May 8, 1998



                         Barrett Resources Corporation
                         -----------------------------
            (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


           Delaware                  1-13446           84-0832476
- ------------------------------  ----------------   ------------------
(State or other jurisdiction    (Commission File   (IRS Employer
 of incorporation)              Number)            Identification No.)
 

      1515 Arapahoe Street, Tower 3, Suite 1000, Denver, Colorado   80202
      -------------------------------------------------------------------
            (Address of principal executive offices)     (Zip Code)



       Registrant's telephone number, including area code (303) 572-3900
                                                          --------------

 
Item 5. Other Events
        ------------

        Press Release. The information set forth in a press release of the
Registrant dated May 8, 1998, which is filed as an exhibit hereto, is
incorporated herein by reference.

Item 7. Financial Statements And Exhibits.
        --------------------------------- 

        (c) Exhibit


Exhibit
Number  Description
- ------  -----------

99.1    Press release dated May 8, 1998

                                       2

 
                                   SIGNATURE


  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 hereunto duly authorized.


                                   BARRETT RESOURCES CORPORATION



Date:  May 11, 1998                By: /s/ John F. Keller
                                      -----------------------
                                       John F. Keller
                                       Chief Financial Officer

                                       3

EX-99.1

 
                                 EXHIBIT 99.1


On May 8, 1998, the Registrant issued the following press release:

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  Contact: J. Frank Keller
 ---------------------                                            Larry Busnardo
                                                                  (303) 572-3900
                                                                  
                                                                  
                   BARRETT RESOURCES DRILLED DORADO PROSPECT


Denver, Colo., May 8, 1998  Barrett Resources Corporation (NYSE: BRR) has
reached total depth of 7,374 feet on its Dorado 67-35-1X well on its Dorado
Prospect.  This is the first test ever drilled on the 2 million acre Block 67 in
the Maranon Basin of Peru.  Oil shows were encountered in several sandstone
benches in both the Vivian and Chonta sandstones.  Log calculations indicate the
potential of approximately 50 feet of combined oil pay in three to four
sandstone benches of Vivian and Chonta sandstones.  These zones will be tested
through 9 5/8" casing, which is being set and cemented, to analyze the type of
fluid present, oil gravity, flow rates, reservoir pressure and other reservoir
data.  The analysis will determine if the well contains commercial quantities of
high gravity oil and if it is capable of producing oil at commercial rates.  It
is estimated it will take approximately three to four weeks to complete this
testing.  Barrett Resources Corporation is the operator and has a 70 percent
working interest in Block 67.

The Dorado 67-35-1X well is the first of three exploratory wells that the
Company and its partners plan to drill during 1998 on three separate prospects
in Block 67.  After the testing of the Dorado 67-35-1X well has been completed,
the rig will be moved to the Pirana Prospect where it will drill the second
well, a 7,269 foot pre-Cretaceous test.

Barrett Resources is a Denver-based independent natural gas and oil exploration
and production company that is also involved in gas gathering, marketing and
trading activities.  Barrett's properties are focused primarily in the Rocky
Mountain region of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, the Mid-Continent area of Kansas,
Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas, and the Gulf of Mexico region of offshore Texas
and Louisiana.  For additional information about Barrett, please visit our Web
site at www.brr.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding Barrett Resources
Corporation's future plans 

 
and expected performance based on assumptions we believe to be reasonable. A
number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ
materially from these statements, including, without limitation, fluctuations in
the price of crude oil and natural gas, the success rate of exploration efforts
and the timeliness of development activities, particularly in the Gulf of
Mexico, Wind River Basin and Peru, and the changes in the political and economic
environment of countries in which the Company has international operations, as
well as other risk factors described from time to time in the Company's
documents and reports filed with the SEC.