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***NEWS******   FROM***

**Petroleum Development Corporation**

** **

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:**  January 17, 2006

**CONTACT:**  Steven R. Williams - (304)842-3597   http://www.petd.com

**Petroleum Development Corporation Announces Third Quarter**

**And Nine Month Operating Results**

** **

** **

Bridgeport,West Virginia... Petroleum Development Corporation (NASDAQ/NMS PETDE) todayannounced third quarter and nine month operating results for 2005. Net incomefor the third quarter of 2005 was $7.5 million ($.46 per diluted share)compared to a restated $7.9 million ($.47 per diluted share) for the sameperiod in 2004. Net income for the nine months of 2005 was a record $28.5million ($1.73 per diluted share) compared to a restated $24.0 million ($1.45per diluted share) for the first nine months of 2004. 

|                                                                                                                                                        |  | Three Months Ended                                                                                      |  | Nine Months Ended                                                               |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                                                                        |  | September 30,

(unaudited)                                                                              |  | September 30,

(unaudited)                                                      |
|                                                                                                                                                        |  | 2005                                                                                                    |  | 2004                                                                            |  | 2005 |  | 2004 |
|                                                                                                                                                        |  |                                                                                                         |  | (Restated)                                                                      |  |  |  | (Restated) |
| Revenues:                                                                                                                                              |  | $      85,787,000                                                              |  | $   72,267,900                                                        |  | $   251,983,700 |  | $     215,254,400 |
|                                                                                                                                                        |  |                                                                                                         |  |                                                                                 |  |  |  |  |
| Income before income taxes                                                                                                                             |  | $      11,918,800                                                              |  | $   12,422,200                                                        |  | $     45,276,600 |  | $       37,654,600 |
|                                                                                                                                                        |  |                                                                                                         |  |                                                                                 |  |  |  |  |
| Net income                                                                                                                                             |  | $        7,505,800                                                   |  | $     7,915,800                                             |  | $     28,524,300 |  | $       24,058,400 |
|                                                                                                                                                        |  |                                                                                                         |  |                                                                                 |  |  |  |  |
| Basic earnings per common share                                                                                                                        |  | $                  0.46 |  | $              0.49 |  | $                1.74 |  | $                   1.50 |
| Diluted earnings per share                                                                                                                             |  | $                 0.46  |  | $              0.47 |  | $                1.73 |  | $                  1.45 |
|                                                                                                                                                        |  |                                                                                                         |  |                                                                                 |  |  |  |  |
| Weighted average common  shares outstanding                                                                                                            |  | 16,271,593                                                                                              |  | 16,284,827                                                                      |  | 16,433,859 |  | 16,140,358 |
|                                                                                                                                                        |  |                                                                                                         |  |                                                                                 |  |  |  |  |
| Weighted average common  and common              equivalent shares   outstanding |  | 16,322,795                                                                                              |  | 16,694,637                                                                      |  | 16,484,787 |  | 16,542,623 |

Steven R. Williams, CEO ofPetroleum Development Corporation, said, "Strong energy prices, increasingproduction and strong partnership sales have allowed the Company to continue toreport outstanding results.  We are continuing a strong drilling and developmentprogram, and the increasing cash flow is also allowing us to pursue higher riskopportunities with the drill bit that could offer substantial upside for thefuture."

The Company has added a new lineitem, "Oil and gas price risk management loss, net" to the income statement topresent the results of PDC's unwinding its previous treatment of hedgeaccounting.  This line item, which is shown below, is comprised of the changein fair value of oil and natural gas derivatives related to our oil and gas productionand includes both realized and unrealized gains and losses.  This line itemdoes not include changes in fair values of commodity-based derivativetransactions related to its gas marketing activities.  Realized gains or lossesresult from derivative transactions that settled during the period.  Unrealizedgains or losses relate to derivative transactions that have not settled as ofthe end of the reporting period and may or may not occur.  The change in fairvalue for non-settled derivatives is based on the closing price of thederivatives at the end of the period. 

The "Oil and gas price riskmanagement loss, net" as presented in the income statement later in thisrelease is made up of the following realized and unrealized portions.

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|                 |  | Three months ended |  | Nine months ended  |
|-----------------|--|--------------------|--|--------------------|
|                 |  | September 30, 2005 |  | September 30, 2004 |  | September 30, 2005 |  | September 30, 2004 |
|                 |  |                    |  | (restated)         |  |  |  | (restated) |
| Realized loss   |  | $2,121,400         |  | $463,300           |  | $3,396,600 |  | $933,100 |
| Unrealized loss |  | $7,800,900         |  | $1,915,500         |  | $9,326,400 |  | $3,144,400 |
| Total           |  | $9,922,300         |  | $2,378,800         |  | $12,723,000 |  | $4,077,500 |
|                 |  |                    |  |                    |  |  |  |  |

Operations

Record sales of public drilling partnerships duringthe first half of 2005 enabled the Company to utilize $39.7 million to drill 37wells during the third quarter of 2005 for its public partnerships. This bringsthe total through the first three quarters of 2005 to 121 wells, all of whichare successful. Thirty of the third quarter partnership wells were drilled inthe Wattenberg Field and seven were drilled in the Piceance Basin. This brings the totals to 96 Wattenberg and 25 Piceance Basin wells through the firstthree quarters of 2005. All of the wells drilled by the Company in these twoareas were in conjunction with its public drilling fund partnerships. TheCompany has conducted the remainder of its 2005 partnership drilling activityin the same two areas. As of September 30, 2005 the Company had funds for future drilling for partnerships of $24.8 million. On December 30, 2005, the Company funded its third and final partnership of the year with subscriptions ofapproximately $36 million. The funds available at the end of the third quarterfunded primarily fourth quarter drilling and completion operations.  The finalPartnership's funds are available for operations during first quarter 2006. 

The Company also participated in the drilling of 7gross (2.5 net) additional wells located on its northeast Colorado properties(NECO), during the third quarter, bringing the total to 53 gross wells (34 netwells) drilled on its NECO properties through the first three quarters of 2005.The Company drilled or participated in approximately 29 additional wells duringthe fourth quarter of 2005 in this area. The wells are being drilled on locationscreated by the regulatory approval of the reduction in well spacing from 80 to40 acres on the properties the Company acquired in Yuma County in 2003.

In addition to drilling, theCompany also continued its Codell re-completion program in Wattenberg Field,re-completing 18 wells during the third quarter of 2005 for a total of 58Codell re-completions through the first three quarters of 2005. The Companycontinued this program through the fourth quarter of 2005 with 18 additionalCodell re-completions. 

Exploratory Wells

During the second quarter of2005, the exploratory Fox Federal #1-13 well in Moffat County, Colorado wastested and determined to be non-commercial. It will be plugged and abandoned. Under the successful efforts method of accounting, this cost is required to beexpensed in the period when the dry hole determination is made (second quarter,2005).  This amounted to a $5.4 million expense which is included in the IncomeStatement under Exploratory dry hole costs. 

The Company's second exploratorywell, the Coffeepot Springs #24-34 in Moffat County, Colorado has been drilledto total depth, completed in three zones, tested and has been deemed to beproductive under the successful efforts method of accounting. The Company has a100% working interest in this well. The cost of this well, which isapproximately $5.2 million as of November 30, 2005 will be capitalized and depreciated over the life of the well using the units of production depreciationmethod.

Early in the third quarter theCompany commenced the drilling of a horizontal Bakken exploratory well, theFedora #34-22H in Dunn County, North Dakota which has been drilled to totaldepth, completed and placed in production in late September, 2005. The Companyhas a 100% working interest in this well. The cost of this well, which isapproximately $4.1 million as of November 30, 2005, will be capitalized and depreciated over the life of the well using units of production depreciationmethod.

The Company has commendeddrilling operations on its second exploratory Bakken well. The Violet-Olsen31-29H, located in Williams County, North Dakota, targets the middle member ofthe Bakken Formation at a depth of approximately 10,000 feet with an additionalsingle leg horizontal component of approximately 8,000 feet for a totalestimated measured depth of approximately 18,000 feet. This well is locatedapproximately 50 miles north of the Company's Fedora well referenced above. Theestimated dry hole cost for this well is approximately $2.1 million.

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Production

Oil and natural gas productionfor the third quarter increased to 3.43 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe)from 3.12 Bcfe in the third quarter of 2004 an increase of 9.9%.  All of theincrease was attributable to the Rocky Mountain Region where the Company'sdrilling, development and acquisition activities have been focused for the pastseveral years.  The Rocky Mountain Region production increased 20.2% comparedto the year earlier period, while production in the Appalachian Basin declined 14.1%and Michigan Basin production declined 14.6% year to year. 

Oil and gas sales also benefitedfrom higher prices for both oil and natural gas compared to the third quarterof 2004. In the third quarter of 2005 the Company sold its natural gas for anaverage price of $8.07 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), compared to a restated $5.13per Mcf in the third quarter of 2004. Similarly the average price of oil thisquarter was $54.66 per barrel (Bbl) compared to a restated $37.65 per barrel inthe third quarter of 2004. These prices for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2005 and 2004, do not include gains or losses from derivative transactions.The following table summarizes the production by region and pricing for the thirdquarters of 2005 and 2004.

|                   |  | Three Months Ended  September 30, 2005                                   |  | Three Months Ended  September 30, 2004                                   |
|-------------------|--|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|--|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                   |  |                                                                          |  | Natural                                                                  |  | Natural Gas |  |  |  | Natural |  | Natural Gas |
|                   |  | Oil                                                                      |  | Gas                                                                      |  | Equivalents |  | Oil |  | Gas |  | Equivalents |
|                   |  | (Bbl)                                                                    |  | (Mcf)                                                                    |  | (Mcfe) |  | (Bbl) |  | (Mcf) |  | (Mcfe) |
|                   |  |                                                                          |  |                                                                          |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Appalachian Basin |  |             1,218 |  |         394,982                       |  |            402,290 |  |             1,589 |  |      458,657 |  |            468,191 |
| Michigan Basin    |  |             1,177 |  |         379,824                       |  |            386,886 |  |             1,301 |  |      445,013 |  |            452,819 |
| Rocky Mountains   |  |         116,170                       |  |      1,941,513                                       |  |         2,638,533 |  |           85,414 |  |  1,682,360 |  |         2,194,844 |
| Total             |  |         118,565                       |  |      2,716,319                                       |  |         3,427,709 |  |           88,304 |  |  2,586,030 |  |         3,115,854 |
|                   |  |                                                                          |  |                                                                          |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|                   |  |                                                                          |  |                                                                          |  |  |  | (Restated) |  | (Restated) |  | (Restated) |
| Average Price     |  |  $         54.66            |  |  $           8.07 |  |  $              8.29 |  |  $         37.65 |  |  $        5.13 |  |  $              5.32 |

Oil and natural gas productionfor the first nine months of 2005 increased to 10.1 Bcfe from 9.49 Bcfecompared to the same period in 2004 an increase of 6.4%. This increase wasfueled by our Rocky Mountain production. The average sales price per Mcfe alsoincreased significantly from a restated $5.18 per Mcfe during the first ninemonths of 2004 to $6.80 per Mcfe for the same period in 2005. The Company's oil and natural gas production forthe first nine months of 2005 and 2004 by area of operations along with averagesales price is presented below:

|                   |  | Nine Months Ended                                            |  | Nine Months Ended                                                              |
|-------------------|--|--------------------------------------------------------------|--|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                   |  | September 30, 2005                                           |  | September 30, 2004                                                             |
|                   |  |                                                              |  | Natural                                                                        |  | Natural Gas |  |  |  | Natural |  | Natural Gas |
|                   |  | Oil                                                          |  | Gas                                                                            |  | Equivalents |  | Oil |  | Gas |  | Equivalents |
|                   |  | (Bbl)                                                        |  | (Mcf)                                                                          |  | (Mcfe) |  | (Bbl) |  | (Mcf) |  | (Mcfe) |
|                   |  |                                                              |  |                                                                                |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Appalachian Basin |  |           3,073 |  |       1,238,724                                       |  |         1,257,162 |  |           3,931 |  |       1,346,915 |  |        1,370,501 |
| Michigan Basin    |  |           3,391 |  |       1,172,638                                       |  |         1,192,984 |  |           4,305 |  |       1,314,829 |  |        1,340,659 |
| Rocky Mountains   |  |      324,355                        |  |       5,698,298                                       |  |         7,644,428 |  |       280,308 |  |       5,093,748 |  |        6,775,596 |
| Total             |  |       330,819                       |  |       8,109,660                                       |  |       10,094,574 |  |       288,544 |  |       7,755,492 |  |        9,486,756 |
|                   |  |                                                              |  |                                                                                |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|                   |  |                                                              |  |                                                                                |  |  |  | (Restated) |  | (Restated) |  | (Restated) |
| Average Price     |  |  $       47.60            |  |  $            6.52 |  |  $              6.80 |  |  $       34.78 |  |  $            5.04 |  |  $             5.18 |

 

Current Hedging of CommodityTransactions

 

The Company has entered intocommodity-based derivative transactions to manage a portion of the exposure toprice risk associated with its sales of oil and natural gas. During the thirdquarter of 2005 the Company had average production per month of 905,400 Mcf ofnatural gas and 39,500 Bbls of oil. The current positions and as of the fourthquarter of 2005 in effect on the Company's share of production are shown in thefollowing table:

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|                                                                                             |                     | Floors |                                                                                                 | Ceilings |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|--------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------|
|                                                                                             |                     |        | Monthly Quantity                                                                                |          | Contract |  | Monthly 

Quantity |  | Contract |
| Month Set                                                                                   | Month               |   |        Mmbtu         |     | Price |       Mmbtu        |   | Price |
| Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG)  Based Derivatives (Piceance Basin)                           |
| Feb-04                                                                                      | Oct 05              |        | 33,000                                                                                          |          | $3.10 |  | 16,000 |  | $4.43 |
| Mar-05                                                                                      | Oct 05              |        | 38,000                                                                                          |          | $4.75 |  | 19,000 |  | $8.12 |
| Jan-05                                                                                      | Nov 2005 - Mar 2006 |        | 60,000                                                                                          |          | $4.50 |  | 30,000 |  | $7.15 |
| Jul-05                                                                                      | Nov 2005 - Mar 2006 |        | 27,500                                                                                          |          | $6.50 |  | 13,750 |  | $8.27 |
| Sep-05                                                                                      | Nov 2005 - Mar 2006 |        | 78,700                                                                                          |          | $9.00 |  | - |  | - |
| Mar-05                                                                                      | Apr 2006 - Oct 2006 |        | 42,000                                                                                          |          | $4.50 |  | 21,000 |  | $7.25 |
| Jul-05                                                                                      | Apr 2006 - Oct 2006 |        | 27,500                                                                                          |          | $5.50 |  | 13,750 |  | $7.63 |
| Jul-05                                                                                      | Nov 2006 - Mar 2007 |        | 27,500                                                                                          |          | $6.00 |  | 13,750 |  | $8.40 |
| New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) Based Derivatives -  (Appalachian and Michigan Basins) |
| Feb-04                                                                                      | Oct 05              |        | 122,000                                                                                         |          | $4.28 |  | 61,000 |  | $5.00 |
| Mar-05                                                                                      | Oct 05              |        | 39,000                                                                                          |          | $5.75 |  | 19,500 |  | $8.37 |
| Jan-05                                                                                      | Nov 2005 - Mar 2006 |        | 156,000                                                                                         |          | $5.00 |  | 78,000 |  | $8.50 |
| Sep 05                                                                                      | Nov 2005 - Mar 2006 |        | 156,000                                                                                         |          | $10.50 |  | - |  | - |
| Mar-05                                                                                      | Apr 2006 - Oct 2006 |        | 78,000                                                                                          |          | $5.50 |  | 39,000 |  | $7.40 |
| Jul-05                                                                                      | Apr 2006 - Oct 2006 |        | 61,000                                                                                          |          | $6.25 |  | 30,000 |  | $8.98 |
| Jul-05                                                                                      | Nov 2006 - Mar 2007 |        | 68,000                                                                                          |          | $7.00 |  | 34,000 |  | $9.27 |
| NYMEX Based Derivatives (NECO) Area                                                         |
| Feb-04                                                                                      | Oct 05              |        | 150,000                                                                                         |          | $4.26 |  | 75,000 |  | $5.00 |
| Jan-05                                                                                      | Nov 2005 - Mar 2006 |        | 150,000                                                                                         |          | $5.00 |  | 75,000 |  | $8.45 |
| Panhandle Based Derivatives (NECO) Area                                                     | ** **          |        |                                                                                                 |          |  |  |
| Sep-05                                                                                      | Nov 2005 - Mar 2006 |        | 100,000                                                                                         |          | $10.00 |  | - |  | - |
| Mar-05                                                                                      | Apr 2006 - Oct 2006 |        | 150,000                                                                                         |          | $5.00 |  | 75,000 |  | $8.62 |
| Jul-05                                                                                      | Nov 2006 - Mar 2007 |        | 150,000                                                                                         |          | $6.50 |  | 75,000 |  | $8.56 |
| Oil - NYMEX Based (Wattenberg)                                                              | ** **          | Bbl    | ** **                                                                                      |          |  | Bbl |  |  |
| Aug-04                                                                                      | Oct 2005 - Dec 2005 |        | 15,000                                                                                          |          | $32.30 |  | 7,500 |  | $40.00 |
|                                                                                             |                     |        |                                                                                                 |          |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

Other Income

Included in Other income for the ninemonths ended September 30, 2005 are the profit from the sale of a portion ofone of our undeveloped leases in Garfield County, Colorado, which we sold to anunaffiliated person in the first quarter of 2005 for a pre-tax gain of $6.2million and a second quarter pre-tax gain on sale to an unaffiliated person ofsome Pennsylvania wells in the amount of $1.7 million.

Common Stock Repurchase

On January 13, 2006, theCompany's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 10% (1,627,500shares) of the Company's common stock during 2006. Stock repurchases under thisprogram may be made in the open market or in private transactions, at times andin amounts that management deems appropriate. The Company may terminate orlimit the stock repurchase program at any time.

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PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENTCORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

CondensedConsolidated Statements of Income

Three Months and NineMonths Ended September 30, 2005 and 2004

(Unaudited)

|                                                     |
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|                                                     |  | Three Months Ended |  | Nine Months Ended |
|                                                     |  | September 30, |  | September 30, |
|                                                     |  | 2005 |  | 2004 |  | 2005 |  | 2004 |
|                                                     |  |  |  | (Restated) |  |  |  | (Restated) |
| Revenues:                                           |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  Oil and gas well drilling operations          |  | $      39,710,600 |  |  $      30,394,400 |  |  $      108,118,300 |  |  $      89,347,500 |
|  Gas sales from marketing activities           |  |         14,970,300 |  |          22,630,200 |  |            58,409,400 |  |          69,643,400 |
|  Oil and gas sales                             |  |         28,413,400 |  |          16,580,500 |  |            68,619,900 |  |          49,105,700 |
|  Well operations and pipeline income           |  |           2,483,300 |  |            2,073,800 |  |              6,840,100 |  |            5,823,700 |
|  Other income                                  |  |               209,400 |  |               589,000 |  |              9,996,000 |  |            1,334,100 |
|      Total revenues             |  |         85,787,000 |  |          72,267,900 |  |          251,983,700 |  |        215,254,400 |
|                                                     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Cost and expenses:                                  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  Cost of oil and gas well drilling operations  |  |         36,177,500 |  |          26,005,400 |  |            95,112,200 |  |          76,328,400 |
|  Cost of gas marketing activities              |  |         14,269,500 |  |          22,047,400 |  |            58,348,400 |  |          68,542,900 |
|  Oil and gas production and                    |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|       well operations cost |  |           6,455,400 |  |            3,952,400 |  |            15,356,700 |  |          11,894,500 |
|  Exploratory dry hole costs                    |  |               135,800 |  |  - |  |              5,382,800 |  |  - |
|  General and administrative expenses           |  |           1,645,500 |  |               926,300 |  |              4,529,000 |  |            2,821,400 |
|  Depreciation, depletion and amortization      |  |           5,120,000 |  |            4,312,300 |  |            14,822,000 |  |          13,308,000 |
|      Total expenses             |  |         63,803,700 |  |          57,243,800 |  |          193,551,100 |  |        172,895,200 |
|                                                     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  Income from operations                        |  |         21,983,300 |  |          15,024,100 |  |             58,432,600 |  |          42,359,200 |
|  Interest expense                              |  |             142,200 |  |               223,100 |  |                  433,000 |  |               627,100 |
|  Oil and gas price risk management loss, net   |  |           9,922,300 |  |            2,378,800 |  |             12,723,000 |  |            4,077,500 |
|                                                     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  Income before income taxes                    |  |         11,918,800 |  |          12,422,200 |  |             45,276,600 |  |          37,654,600 |
|  Income taxes                                  |  |           4,413,000 |  |            4,506,400 |  |             16,752,300 |  |          13,596,200 |
|                                                     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  Net income                                    |  | $        7,505,800 |  |  $        7,915,800 |  |  $        28,524,300 |  |  $      24,058,400 |
|                                                     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  Basic earnings per common share               |  | $                 0.46 |  |  $                 0.49 |  |  $                   1.74 |  |  $                 1.50 |
|  Diluted earnings per share                    |  | $                 0.46 |  |  $                 0.47 |  |  $                   1.73 |  |  $                 1.45 |
|                                                     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

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Non-GAAP Financial Measure

The United States Securities andExchange Commission has disclosure requirements for public companies concerningreferences to Non-GAAP financial measures. (GAAP refers to generally acceptedaccounting principles.) Non-GAAP financial measures may be provided if thecompany explains the relevance of the information. The company must alsoreconcile the Non-GAAP financial measure to related GAAP information."Adjusted Cash Flow" is a Non-GAAP financial measure provided by PDCin this earnings release. Adjusted Cash Flow is net income before deferredincome taxes, depreciation, depletion, and amortization and unrealized losseson derivative transactions. PDC believes Adjusted Cash Flow is relevant becauseit is a measure of cash available to fund the Company's capital expendituresand to service its debt. PDC also believes Adjusted Cash Flow is a usefulmeasure for estimating the value of the Company's operations.

|                                                       | Three months Ended September 30, | Nine months Ended September 30, |
|-------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|                                                       | 2005                             | 2004                            | 2005 | 2004 |
|                                                       |                             | Restated                        |   | Restated |
| Net income                                            | $7,505,800                       | $7,915,800                      | $28,524,300 | $24,058,400 |
|   Deferred income tax expense               | 2,054,100                        | 1,524,900                       | 6,683,900 | 7,670,500 |
|   Depreciation, depletion and  amortization |  5,120,000                  |  4,312,300                 | 14,822,000 |  13,308,000 |
|  Unrealized loss on derivative transactions      |   7,036,300                 |   2,219,100                |   9,416,200 |   2,592,900 |
| Adjusted cash flow                                    | $21,716,200                      | $15,972,100                     | $59,446,400 | $47,629,800 |

10-Q and Quarterly Conference Call

 

The Company filed its QuarterlyReport on Form 10-Q on January 12, 2006. You can access the report at theCompany's website (www.petd.com), or contact the Company for apaper copy. The Company invites you to join Steve Williams, Chief ExecutiveOfficer, and Darwin Stump, Chief Financial Officer, for a conference call on Thursday,January 19, 2006 for a discussion of the results.

What:     Petroleum Development ThirdQuarter Earnings Conference Call

When:    January 19, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time

Where:   www.petd.com

How:       Log on to the web address above or call****(877)407-8033 

Contact:  Steve Williams,Petroleum Development Corporation, (800) 624-3821 E-mail: petd@petd.com

About Petroleum Development Corporation

Petroleum Development Corporation (www.petd.com) is anindependent energy company engaged in the development, production and marketingof natural gas.  The Company operations are focused in the Rocky Mountains withadditional operations in the Appalachian Basin and Michigan. During the thirdquarter of 2004, the Company was added to the S&P SmallCap 600 Index.Additionally, PDC was added to the Russell 3000 Index of companies in 2003.  PDCwas named on the FSB: Fortune Small Business Magazine list of America's 100Fastest-Growing Small Companies in 2001 and 2002.  

Certainmatters discussed within this press release are forward-looking statementswithin the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.Although PDC believes the expectations reflected in such forward- lookingstatements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance thatits expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results todiffer materially from expectations include financial performance, oil and gasprices, drilling program results, drilling results, regulatory changes, changesin local or national economic conditions and other risks detailed from time totime in the Company's reports filed with the SEC, including quarterly reportson Form 10-Q, reports on Form 8-K and annual reports on Form 10-K.

###

**103 East Main Street • P. O. Box26 • Bridgeport, West Virginia • Phone:  (304) 842-3597**