EXHIBIT 7

                        For Further Information Contact:
                                     Robert Stillwell
                                     Garrett Smith
                                     Both of BP Capital
                                     214-265-4165


For Immediate Release
Thursday, August 15, 2002


                BP Capital Requests Redemption of Poison Pill and
         Management-Led Shareholder Forum for Penn Virginia Corporation


         Poison Pill is undue burden on shareholder ownership rights;
shareholder opinions should be sought through a management-led shareholder
forum.

         Boone Pickens announced today that BP Capital has sent a letter to the
board of directors of Penn Virginia Corporation requesting that the company's
poison pill be redeemed and that a management-led shareholder forum be convened
to permit shareholders to express opinions regarding the current direction of
PVA.

         BP Capital is filing a 13D amendment with the Securities and Exchange
Commission which contains BP Capital's letter to the board of directors of PVA.
The following is a copy of such letter.


                                 August 15, 2002



Board of Directors
Penn Virginia Corporation
c/o Mr. A. James Dearlove
President and Chief Executive Officer
One Radnor Corporate Center, Suite 200
Radnor PA 19087

Gentlemen:

         We own 7.5% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Penn Virginia
Corporation (PVA). In June 2002, we offered to acquire the entire equity
interest in the company for $40 cash per share, a 20% premium, in a negotiated
transaction. You rejected that offer 24 hours after receiving it. Then in July
we proposed a recapitalization that we believed would result in substantial
current and ongoing value to shareholders through the repurchase of a portion of
the outstanding common shares for $50 per share. You rejected that proposal a
week later, citing an undefined and still unannounced "strategic plan" of your
own.

         On August 8, 2002, we understand that you received a proposal from
Third Point Management Company L.L.C., a 7.9% shareholder, regarding the
possible acquisition of PVA by an unnamed buyer at a substantial




premium. We have not seen at this time a response to that proposal, but it will
not be a great surprise to see you reject it as well with some equally generic
response.

         A consistent theme here is your dismissal of shareholder originated
proposals for creating shareholder value. We wonder what your response might
have been if the foregoing proposals had come from one of your large
institutional shareholders. We suspect you would have taken great pains not to
offend these investors and would have felt yourselves compelled at least to work
with them to see if their ideas could be developed into value enhancing plans.
We believe that all shareholders are entitled to that kind of serious,
considerate treatment and are entitled to a fair hearing from management.

         You have adopted a poison pill that insulates management by precluding
large shareholders from taking any substantive joint actions. Because the poison
pill places an undue burden on the legitimate ownership rights of all
shareholders, and because you have demonstrated a lack of meaningful regard for
past proposals from shareholders, we hereby request that you take the following
actions:

a)       redeem the poison pill and thereby permit shareholders greater freedom
         of action concerning their investments; and

b)       solicit the opinions of all shareholders regarding the current
         direction and strategic plan of PVA for maximizing shareholder value;
         this could easily be accomplished in a management-led forum.

How can taking these actions have any possible downside, or at least any
downside for shareholders? Put another way, how can PVA management, owning only
2% of the outstanding shares, possibly deny these opportunities to the rest of
the shareholders owning the remaining 98% of the shares?

         This is a simple request, and it should not take long for you to
consider and grant it. You have previously demonstrated the ability to act
quickly. Your prompt and public response is anticipated.

                        Very truly yours,

                        BP Capital Energy Equity Fund, L.P.
                        BP Capital Energy Equity International Holdings I, L.P.

                        By: BP Capital Management, L.P.



                        By: /s/ Boone Pickens
                            ---------------------------------------------------
                            Boone Pickens
                            Managing Director of the General Partner