EXHIBIT 23.1



                         CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS



The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Parker & Parsley Petroleum Company

       We  consent  to  the  incorporation  by  reference  in  the  Registration
Statements (No. 33-38971,  No. 33-47168, No. 33- 49612 and No. 33-79480) on Form
S-8 and (No.  333-21275) on Form S-3 of Parker & Parsley  Petroleum  Company and
subsidiaries of our report dated January 29, 1997,  relating to the consolidated
balance  sheets of Parker & Parsley  Petroleum  Company and  subsidiaries  as of
December  31,  1996  and  1995  and  the  related  consolidated   statements  of
operations,  stockholders'  equity,  and cash flows for each of the years in the
three-year  period ended December 31, 1996, which report appears in the December
31, 1996 annual report on Form 10-K of Parker & Parsley Petroleum  Company.  Our
report  refers to changes  in the method of  accounting  for the  impairment  of
long-lived assets and for long-lived assets to be disposed of.




                                          KPMG PEAT MARWICK LLP

Midland, Texas
March 7, 1997


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