Welcome to Common Ground Gardendale, the website for information about the oil and gas drilling activities of Berry Petroleum Company (operating under the name of Berry Oil) in the Gardendale, Texas area. The purpose of this site is to provide accurate information and develop mutual understanding so that property owners and mineral rights holders can coexist in a way that benefits the entire community.
As you may know, the mineral rights in the Gardendale area were severed from the surface rights more than 50 years ago. When Gardendale landowners bought their properties, they acquired them subject to the mineral owner’s right to do everything reasonably necessary to develop the minerals, which includes the use of the surface to access and produce those minerals. In 2010, Berry Oil acquired leases to the mineral rights underlying the Gardendale area and intends to develop the oil and gas resources in a manner that 1) protects the health and safety of both the people and environment of Gardendale to the greatest extent possible, 2) is consistent with applicable laws and extensive regulations already in place relating to drilling and production activities and 3) honors our obligations to the royalty owners in the Gardendale area, and to our shareholders and lenders.
On this site you will find information about our current plans in Gardendale, the economic impact of our operations, the uncommon solutions that we will employ to minimize impacts on surface property owners and answers to frequently asked questions.
“On February 21, 2013 Linn Energy announced the intent to acquire Berry Petroleum as part of their growth strategy. It is expected that the acquisition will take 4-6 months to complete. Our operations in the Gardendale area will continue as planned during that period. We look forward to being part of the Linn Energy portfolio and believe this partnership will be consistent with the plans for development we’ve previously shared with the Gardendale community. Berry invites the community to learn more about our merger partner, LINN Energy, by visiting LINN’s website at http://www.linnenergy.com”
John Matson,
Berry Petroleum, VP of Texas Operations
