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E-mail StoryBerry Petroleum moving to Denver
| Friday, Mar 28 2008 9:43 AM
Last Updated: Monday, Mar 31 2008 7:44 AM
Berry Petroleum Co., one of just two Kern County companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange, is moving its headquarters to Denver this summer, the company announced.
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1909 — The company starts oil production in California
1985 — The company incorporates in Delaware
1987 — The company becomes publicly traded
2003 — Berry buys properties in the Rocky Mountains. Current chief executive, Robert F. Heinemann, joins board of directors in March.
2004 — Heinemann takes chief executive reigns in June
2005 — Berry starts to sell more natural gas than it consumes due to eastern Colorado buys
2006 — The company invests in an undeveloped natural gas reserve in Colorado
2008 — Berry announces it will move headquarters from Bakersfield to Denver
Source: Berry Petroleum Co.
$130 million: Profit in 2007
270: Total employees in California, Colorado and Utah
150: California employees
15: Employees who will likely move from California to Denver
40 percent: Amount of production and proved reserves now in the Rocky Mountains, with the rest mostly in California
$400 million: Berry’s investment from 2004-2007 in natural gas related acquisitions in Colorado
Source: Berry Petroleum Co.
Photos:
An established oil rig pumping unit works in the foreground while a new one is erected in the back.
“We desire to be located in an area that presents more growth opportunities for Berry,” said Robert F. Heinemann, president and chief executive officer, in a Thursday statement.
While Berry’s operations in California have “never been stronger,” his statement said, Denver is “a well recognized business center for energy companies.”
Heinemann, who has led the company since June 2004, was not available Friday, a receptionist said. Several calls to spokesmen were not returned.
Up to 15 employees could relocate to Denver, the company said in a release. About 150 work in California. The release did not say whether any workers will lose jobs.
Berry will keep a regional office in Bakersfield at its current Truxtun Avenue location.
OPPORTUNITY CALLS
Berry’s local presence and operations aren’t likely to change much from the move, said Joe Sparano, president of the Sacramento-based industry trade group Western States Petroleum Association.
In fact, Sparano said, only one of his organization’s member companies still has headquarters in California.
“(Berry) will look like most of the rest of our members now,” he said.
Berry’s 2007 earnings report filed with federal regulators shows it started buying natural gas assets in the Rocky Mountain region in 2003. Berry invested $400 million there between 2004-2007, the report says.
The heavy crude oil it handles in California is more expensive to process than natural gas, the report says.
Les Clark, executive vice president of the Independent Oil Producers Agency, an industry trade group based in Bakersfield, said Berry’s move “probably fits within their plans.”
Denver’s central location, combined with different oil and gas opportunities there, probably mesh well with Berry’s future, he said.
“They’re growing,” Clark said of Berry.
ALONE ON THE BIG BOARD
Tejon Ranch Co., headquartered off Interstate 5 near Kern’s southern border, also trades on the so-called “Big Board,” the nickname for the New York Stock Exchange.
Bob Stine, president and chief executive of the farming and real estate development company, said he was sorry to see Berry’s headquarters leave Kern.
But any real hit, Stine said, would come from losing good jobs — something “probably more important” than Berry’s publicly traded status, he said.
The good news, said Richard Chapman, chief executive of the Kern Economic Development Corp., which promotes job growth here, is that most of Berry’s local oil production jobs will stay put.
“The impact is maybe more psychological than (from) dollars leaving our economy,” Chapman said.
Still, it’s “never great to lose headquarters,” he added.
Local business advocates couldn’t have done anything to prevent the move, said Perry Wong, senior managing economist at the Milken Institute, an economic think tank in Santa Monica.
“Denver is an up and coming energy center,” Wong said.
California’s strict rules for oil and gas exploration could hinder a fast-growing company like Berry, he said.
Berry Petroleum is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BRY.
Shares closed up 3 cents Friday at $46.24.