Berry Petroleum Employee Receives National Recognition: BLM Names Berry ``California Operator of The Year''.

Business Editors

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2002

Berry Petroleum Company (NYSE:BRY) today announced that employee Jeff Jones, a staff production engineer, was awarded the Production Engineering Award by the International Society of Petroleum Engineers at the Annual SPE Technical Conference earlier this month. This award recognizes outstanding achievements in, or contributions to, the advancement of the discipline of production engineering. The section officers of the local San Joaquin Valley chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers nominated Jeff for his specific contributions to the field of thermal production engineering. Jeff holds four U.S. patents related to thermal production and has authored or co-authored 14 technical papers.

Brian Rehkopf, Vice President of Engineering, said, "For a professional society to recognize Jeff's achievements in his chosen field has to be one of the highest honors he could receive. All of us at Berry are very proud of Jeff for his contribution to Berry's ongoing success, to the industry, and specifically to heavy crude oil production."

BLM Names Berry "California Oil & Gas Operator of the Year"

On Thursday, October 10, 2002, Mike Pool, California State Director of the Bureau of Land Management, presented Berry Petroleum Company Chief Executive Officer Jerry V. Hoffman with the "2002 California Oil and Gas Operator of the Year Award". Mr. Pool stated, "On behalf of the BLM, I would like to thank Berry for its excellence, innovation and environmental sensitivity in the development of BLM oil and gas resources in California."

Mr. Hoffman added, "We are very pleased to be recognized in this fashion for our responsible operations on Federal leases in California. We strive to conduct our operations on all of our properties in a responsible, environmentally-sound manner."

Berry Petroleum Company is a publicly traded independent oil and gas production and exploitation company located in Bakersfield, California. Visit www.bry.com for more information.