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)    April 2, 2004

                     Berry Petroleum Company
      (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware                     1-9735               77-0079387
(State or other           (Commission            IRS Employer
jurisdiction of           File Number)        Identification No.
incorporation)


       5201 Truxtun Avenue, Suite 300 Bakersfield, CA  93309
              (Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code (661) 616-3900


                            N/A
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)







                       1



Item 9.  Regulation FD Disclosure

     (c)  Exhibits

     The following Exhibits are hereby filed as part of this Current
     Report on Form 8-K:

     Exhibit 99.1 Press Release dated April 2, 2004 regarding the
     Registrant's naming Robert Heinemann as chairman of the board.

                     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 thereunto duly authorized.

                            BERRY PETROLEUM COMPANY



                            By     /s/ Kenneth A. Olson
                            Name:      Kenneth A. Olson
                            Title:     Corporate Secretary
                                       and Treasurer

     April 2, 2004

                     2

EX-99

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

Contacts:  Jerry V. Hoffman, President and CEO
           Ralph J. Goehring, Senior Vice President & CFO

BERRY PETROLEUM NAMES ROBERT F. HEINEMANN CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Bakersfield, CA - April 2, 2004 - Berry Petroleum Company  (NYSE:BRY)
announced  that effective April 1, 2004, Mr. Robert F. Heinemann  has
been named chairman of the board.  Mr. Heinemann joined the board  of
directors  in  2002  and  is  currently a consultant  in  the  energy
industry.  From 2000 until 2002, Mr. Heinemann served as senior  vice
president  and  chief technology officer of Halliburton  Company  and
prior  to  2000,  he  served  in  various  positions  for  Mobil  Oil
Corporation, including vice president of Mobil Technology Company and
general  manager  of  the Mobil Exploration and  Producing  Technical
Center.    Mr.  Heinemann's  technical  experience  is  in  reservoir
engineering  and  he holds a doctorate in chemical  engineering  from
Vanderbilt  University.  Mr. Heinemann is a non-employee  independent
director.

Mr.  Heinemann stated, "I am honored to be asked to serve as chairman
of  the  board  of Berry Petroleum Company which is a well  respected
independent  producer  in the energy industry.   I  look  forward  to
assisting Berry's excellent management team led by Jerry Hoffman  and
the  board of directors in continuing Berry's ongoing achievement  of
its strategic objectives."

Mr.  Hoffman,  president and chief executive  officer,  stated,  "Our
board  of  directors has always diligently performed their duties  on
behalf  of the shareholders of this Company.  The board has carefully
considered  all  elements  of  good  corporate  governance  and   has
unanimously concluded that in today's environment, the Company  would
be  well served by having an independent non-employee director  serve
as  the chairman of the board.  The Company is most fortunate to have
a  highly  qualified, experienced individual such  as  Bob  Heinemann
agree to serve in that role.  I look forward to working closely  with
Bob  as Berry continues its efforts to meet its growth objectives and
achieve ever increasing shareholder value."

Berry Petroleum Company is a publicly traded independent oil and  gas
production   and  exploitation  company  with  its  headquarters   in
Bakersfield, California.

This  release  may contain descriptions of the Company's expectations
regarding   future   business   activities.   These   forward-looking
statements  are made in reliance upon safe harbor provisions  of  the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Accordingly, actual
results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-
looking statements.

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