Ownership Submission
FORM 3
 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
  Ford B James
 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
02/28/2005		 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
GULFWEST ENERGY INC [GULF]
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
C/O OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC, 333 S. GRAND AVENUE 28TH FLOOR		 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
__X__ Director _____ 10% Owner
_____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
(Street)

LOS ANGELES, CA 90071		 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned
(Instr. 4)		 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
No securities beneficially owned (1) (2) 0 (1) (2)
D
 

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)		 3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
Director 10% Owner Officer Other
Ford B James
C/O OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC
333 S. GRAND AVENUE 28TH FLOOR
LOS ANGELES, CA 90071		   X      

Signatures

/s/ B. James Ford 03/09/2005
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) OCM GW Holdings, LLC ("Holdings") is the direct beneficial owner of 76,700 shares of Series G Convertible Preferred Stock and 2,000 shares of Series H Convertible Preferred Stock of the issuer, convertible into approximately 45,468,254 shares of the issuer's common stock. OCM Principal Opportunities Fund III, L.P. ("Fund") and OCM Principal Opportunities Fund IIIA, L.P. ("Fund IIIA") are the direct beneficial owners of Holdings. Fund is the managing member of Holdings and Oaktree Capital Management, LLC ("Oaktree") is the managing member of OCM Principal Opportunities Fund III GP, LLC ("Fund GP"), the general partner of the Fund and Fund IIIA. The Reporting Person, B. James Ford, is a representative and employee of Oaktree, and therefore Mr.Ford may be deemed to be a beneficial owner of the shares owned by Holdings. The Reporting Person disclaims beneficial ownership of such shares except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein.
(2) The filing of this form shall not be deemed an admission that the Reporting Person is, for purposes of Section 16 or otherwise, the beneficial owner of such shares.

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