EXHIBIT 18
March 30, 1995

American Exploration Company
1331 Lamar, Suite 900
Houston, Texas  77010-3088

Re:   Form 10-K Report for the Year Ended December 31, 1994

Gentlemen:

This letter is written to meet the requirements of Regulation S-K calling for a
letter from a registrant's independent accountants whenever there has been a
change in accounting principle or practice.

Effective December 31, 1994, the Company changed its accounting policy related
to recognizing impairments of proved oil and gas properties to a policy that is
consistent with the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board
(FASB) exposure draft, "Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets."
According to the management of the Company, this change was made in response to
the volatility of oil and gas prices, the resulting economic losses of proved
reserves and corresponding increases in the Company's depreciation, depletion
and amortization rate. Although no impairment of proved oil and gas properties
is required under existing regulations, management concluded that it would be
more appropriate to evaluate properties at the field level rather than at the
Company level. Accordingly, the Company has adopted a policy to assess
recoverability of its proved properties by field utilizing estimates of
undiscounted future net revenues attributable to proved reserves. If the book
value of an individual proved field is greater than its undiscounted future net
revenues, an impairment is recognized for the difference between the net book
value and the fair value.

A complete coordinated set of financial and reporting standards for determining
the preferability of accounting principles among acceptable alternative
principles has not been established by the accounting profession. Thus, we
cannot make an objective determination of whether the change in accounting
described in the preceding paragraph is to a preferable method. However, we have
reviewed the pertinent factors, including those related to financial reporting,
in this particular case on a subjective basis, and our opinion stated below is
based on our determination made in this manner.

We are of the opinion that the Company's change in method of accounting is to an
acceptable alternative method of accounting, which, based upon the reasons
stated for the change and our discussions with you, is also preferable under the
circumstances in this particular case. In arriving at this opinion, we have
relied on the business judgment and business planning of your management.

Very truly yours,

ARTHUR ANDERSEN LLP