Berry Petroleum Reports 2007 Earnings of $2.89 Per Share and Record Production of 26,900 BOE/D.

Achieved Fourth Quarter Earnings of $.71 Per Share and Average Production of over 28,000 BOE/D

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Berry Petroleum Company (NYSE:BRY) earned net income of $130 million, or $2.89 per diluted share, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2007, up 20% from 2006 net income of $108 million, or $2.41 per diluted share, according to Robert F. Heinemann, president and chief executive officer. The Company recorded pre-tax gains on the sale of non-core assets of $54.2 million and incurred dry hole, abandonment, impairment and exploration charges of $13.7 million in 2007. On an after-tax basis these items resulted in $25 million of net income, included above, or $.56 per diluted share. For the fourth quarter of 2007, Berry earned $32.3 million, or $.71 per diluted share, compared to net income of $19.1 million, or $.43 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2006.

For 2007, net production averaged a record 26,902 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/D), an increase of 6% from the 25,398 BOE per day achieved in 2006. The average realized sales price, net of hedging, for the full-year 2007 was $47.50 per BOE, up 2% over the $46.67 per BOE received in the 2006 period. Oil and gas revenues rose 9% to $467 million in 2007 from $430 million in 2006.

For 2007 and 2006, net production in BOE per day was as follows:

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Discretionary cash flow totaled a record $260 million in 2007, up 6% from $246 million in 2006. (Discretionary cash flow is a non-GAAP measure; see reconciliation below.) The Company drilled 442 gross (339 net) wells in 2007, with a success rate of 98%.

Mr. Heinemann stated, "Berry is a growing company focused on execution, and as a result we had a year of significantly improved performance from several key assets. Our diatomite and Poso Creek heavy oil assets had strong increases in average 2007 production to 990 BOE/D and 1,950 BOE/D, up 215% and 108%, respectively. We are targeting these assets to achieve average 2008 production of 2,200 BOE/D and 3,270 BOE/D, respectively. Average 2007 production from our Piceance and DJ basin gas assets also had significant growth, up 138% and 17% to 10,290 Mcf/D and 18,740 Mcf/D, respectively.

"We are anticipating our 2008 Piceance average production to increase to 21,600 Mcf/d, another 110% increase over 2007. Our target is to drill 60 gross wells (35 net) on this asset in 2008. We achieved one of our key Piceance targets in 2007, which was to drill Garden Gulch mesa wells in fewer than 18 days. We expect to continue to improve our Piceance drilling program going forward. Our Uinta assets continued to perform well upon our entering into a new crude oil sales contract early in 2007. Our S. Midway asset in California is mature and our goal in 2008 is to reduce the natural decline to between 5% and 8% through additional drilling on the flanks of the reservoir, utilizing horizontal wells and improved steaming techniques.

"Our 2008 capital budget is $295 million, including $15 million earmarked for exploration. We are targeting over a 10% increase in both production and net reserves to end 2008 with between 180 million and 190 million BOE of proved reserves and average production of between 29,500 and 30,500 BOE/D. Our primary means to accomplish these targets is to move quickly on our drill-ready oil projects where we have significant rates of returns at the current commodity price mix which favors steam-enhanced oil recovery and to continue to drill up our probable reserves in the Piceance."

2007 Reserves

Estimated proved oil and gas reserves increased by 13% to 169 million BOE as of December 31, 2007. In 2007, Berry added 35.4 million BOE at a finding and development cost of $10.07 per BOE (see supporting cost schedule below) and replaced 293% of the 9.8 million BOE (26,902 BOE/D) it produced in 2007. Berry's three-year finding and development cost is an average $12.23 per BOE and its three-year reserve replacement rate is 316%. At year-end 2007, the Company's reserve mix includes 117 million barrels of crude oil, condensate and natural gas liquids, and 316 billion cubic feet of natural gas, or 69% oil and 31% natural gas. Geographically, 60% of proved reserves are in California and 40% are in the Rocky Mountain region. The Company's year-end reserves-to-production ratio increased slightly to 16.5 years, based on annualized fourth quarter 2007 average daily production. Proved developed reserves represent 61% of total proved reserves.

Fourth Quarter 2007

For the fourth quarter of 2007, oil and gas revenues were $133 million and discretionary cash flow was $77 million. The Company drilled 96 gross (80 net) wells in the fourth quarter of 2007, with a success rate of 100 percent. The Company recognized a $2.9 million pre-tax gain on the sale of stock and had a pre-tax impairment charge of $3.3 million associated with its Coyote Flats, Utah, asset.

Production averaged a record 28,023 BOE/D, an increase of 4% over fourth quarter 2006 (26,889 BOE/D) and up 4% from the third quarter of 2007. The average realized sales price after hedging was $52.32 per BOE, up 25% from $42.00 per BOE achieved in the fourth quarter of 2006 and up 9% from $47.93 in the third quarter of 2007.

Ralph J. Goehring, executive vice president and chief financial officer, stated, "Our capital expenditures for 2007 totaled $341 million consisting of $285 million in development and $56 million in acquisitions. We also capitalized $18 million of interest. We funded these items from $260 million of discretionary cash flow, asset sales of $72 million and the balance from additional borrowings. This compares to our total capital expenditures in 2006 of $544 million, which consisted of $258 million of acquisitions and $286 million in development and other assets. In 2006, we capitalized $9 million of interest. Based on $75 per barrel West Texas Intermediate pricing for oil and $7.50 per Mcf Henry Hub pricing for natural gas, we expect our 2008 cash provided by operating activities to be between $315 million and $335 million, which will fund our entire 2008 development and exploration program. We expect our year-end 2007 debt of $459 million to be relatively unchanged at year-end 2008, based on these commodity prices and our production expectations.

"In 2007, we achieved a 29% return on average shareholders' equity, and a 16% return on average capital employed. This is our sixth consecutive year of having achieved greater than 15% return for each of these measures.

"Our previously announced plan to form a master limited partnership for certain of our assets is currently on hold due to unfavorable capital market conditions. We will continue to monitor the economic conditions relevant to a successful offering."

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Teleconference Call

An earnings conference call will be held Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time (10:30 a.m. Pacific Time). Dial 1-866-770-7120 to participate, using passcode 81132745. International callers may dial 617-213-8065. For a digital replay available until February 28, 2008 dial 1-888-286-8010 (passcode 14739821). Listen live or via replay on the web at www.bry.com. Transcripts of this and previous calls may be viewed at www.bry.com in the "Investor Center."

About Berry Petroleum Company

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

Safe harbor under the "Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995"

Any statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, that the MLP will not be formed, will not complete an offering of securities and will not complete such actions on any timetable. Words such as "plans," "will," "expect," "target," "goal," and forms of those words and others indicate forward-looking statements. Important factors which could affect actual results are discussed in PART 1, Item 1A. Risk Factors of Berry's 2006 Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2007 under the heading "Other Factors Affecting the Company's Business and Financial Results" in the section titled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," and all material changes are updated in Part II, Item 1A within our Form 10-Qs filed subsequent to that date.

This announcement shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation or sale of securities would be unlawful. Such securities will only be offered and sold pursuant to a registration statement filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

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