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: Robert F. Heinemann, President and CEO
          Ralph J. Goehring, Executive Vice President and CFO

              BERRY PETROLEUM CLOSES ACQUISITION
              OF YUMA COUNTY NIOBRARA GAS ASSETS

Bakersfield, CA - January 28, 2005 - Berry Petroleum Company
(NYSE:BRY)  has closed the previously announced  acquisition
of Yuma County, Colorado, Niobrara natural gas assets from J-
W  Operating  Company. The acquisition  consists  of  a  52%
working  interest  ownership (43% net revenue  interest)  in
approximately 130,000 gross acres and over 650 producing gas
wells  concentrated in 20 productive fields in  northeastern
Colorado,   as  well  as  100%  ownership  in  certain   gas
compression   and   transportation   assets.   Current   net
production  is  approximately  8.8  million  cubic  feet  of
natural  gas  per day and the Company estimates  net  proved
reserves  to  be  approximately 87 billion cubic  feet.  The
adjusted purchase price of $105 million will be financed  by
bank   borrowings   under  the  Company's  existing   credit
facility.

Robert  F.  Heinemann, president and CEO of Berry  Petroleum
Company, stated, "The Yuma County properties provide Berry a
solid   producing   asset   with   significant   development
opportunities.  Our  on-going strategy  is  to  lighten  our
production mix and strengthen our development portfolio.  We
like this asset because of its low geologic risk, repeatable
development opportunities and low operating costs.  We  have
identified   over   150   drilling  locations   on   80-acre
development spacing and an additional 500 locations  on  40-
acre spacing."

Michael   Duginski,  senior  vice  president  of   corporate
development, added, "Combining this acreage and the  acreage
from  the  pending Tri-state acquisition from  Bill  Barrett
Corporation provides Berry with interests in almost  500,000
acres  in the Niobrara play.  This provides us with a  solid
base  of  production  as well as the opportunity  to  create
further  significant value upon exploration and  development
success. Recent increases in pipeline capacity have provided
an  outlet for more production from this region which should
improve  our  gas  sales  price.  Prices  for  this   region
currently are about $.85 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) lower
than the Henry Hub index."

Logan Magruder, senior vice president of operations for  the
Rocky  Mountain  region,  added, "We  are  excited  to  take
control  of  this quality producing asset and are proceeding
to  quickly  integrate the assets into Berry. We have  added
the  right people to our engineering and operational  staff,
many  of whom are already familiar with this asset. We  plan
to drill 60 wells and complete 25 workovers this year in the
Niobrara   formation   with  an   expected   investment   of
approximately  $5 million.  We will start  drilling  in  the
first quarter of 2005 and aggressively pursue cost reduction
opportunities  to  seek to lower the  operating  cost  below
$1.50 per Mcf."

ABOUT BERRY PETROLEUM

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

"Safe  harbor under the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act  of 1995:" With the exception of historical information,
the  matters  discussed in this news  release  are  forward-
looking  statements  that involve risks  and  uncertainties.
Although  the  Company  believes that its  expectations  are
based  on  reasonable assumptions, it can give no  assurance
that  its  goals will be achieved.  Important  factors  that
could  cause actual results to differ materially from  those
in  the  forward-looking statements herein include, but  are
not  limited  to,  the  timing  and  extent  of  changes  in
commodity  prices  for  oil, gas and electricity,  drilling,
development  and operating risks, a limited marketplace  for
electricity  sales  within  California,  counterparty  risk,
acquisition   risks,   competition,   environmental   risks,
litigation uncertainties, the availability of drilling  rigs
and  other  support  services, legislative  and/or  judicial
decisions and other government or Tribal regulations.


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