1

   AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON OCTOBER 31, 1997
                                                 Registration No.
                                                 333-__________
================================================================================
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                               -----------------
                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT

                                     UNDER

                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                               -----------------

                       PIONEER NATURAL RESOURCES COMPANY
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

         DELAWARE                                           75-2702753
(State or other jurisdiction of                          (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)                          Identification No.)
                 

                           1400 WILLIAMS SQUARE WEST
                         5205 NORTH O'CONNOR BOULEVARD
                              IRVING, TEXAS 75039
          (Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

                               -----------------

                       PIONEER NATURAL RESOURCES COMPANY
                     DEFERRED COMPENSATION RETIREMENT PLAN

                            (Full title of the plan)

                                MARK L. WITHROW
                           1400 WILLIAMS SQUARE WEST
                         5205 NORTH O'CONNOR BOULEVARD
                              IRVING, TEXAS 75039
                                 (972) 444-9001
            (Name, address and telephone number of agent for service)

                                    copy to:
                               ROBERT L. KIMBALL
                             VINSON & ELKINS L.L.P.
                           3700 TRAMMELL CROW CENTER
                                2001 ROSS AVENUE
                            DALLAS, TEXAS 75201-2975
                                 (214) 220-7700

                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE


===================================================================================================================
                                                                                 Proposed
   Title of securities     Amount to be          Proposed maximum           maximum aggregate        Amount of             
    to be registered        registered       offering price per unit (1)    offering price (1)    registration fee 
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                           
 Interests in the Pioneer
 Natural Resources
 Company Deferred
 Compensation Retirement Plan  (2)                   (3)                        $5,000,000             $1516
===================================================================================================================


(1)    Estimated solely for purposes of calculating the registration fee in
       accordance with Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933 (the
       "Securities Act").

(2)    Pursuant to Rule 416(c) under the Securities Act, this Registration
       Statement also registers an indeterminate amount of plan interests.

(3)    Pursuant to Rule 457(h)(2) under the Securities Act, no separate fee is
       required to register plan interests.
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                                    PART II
               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

ITEM 3. INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

       The following documents have been filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission by Pioneer Natural Resources Company, a Delaware corporation (the
"Company"), and are incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof:

       (a)    The Company's Registration Statement on Form S-4 (File No. 333-
              26951) filed on June 26, 1997;

       (b)    The Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended
              June 30, 1997;

       (c)    The Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 7, 1997;

       (d)    The Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 2, 1997;

       (e)    Joint Management Information Circular and Proxy Statement of
              Pioneer and Chauvco filed on October 1, 1997; and

       (f)    The description of the Company's Common Stock, $0.01 par value
              per share, contained in Item 1 of the Company's Registration
              Statement on Form 8-A filed pursuant to the Securities Exchange
              Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") on August 8, 1997.

        All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act prior to the filing of a post-
effective amendment that indicates that all securities offered have been sold
or that deregisters all securities then remaining unsold shall also be deemed
to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part hereof from the dates
of filing of such documents.  Any statement contained in a document
incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed
to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the
extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed
document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein
modifies or supersedes such statement.  Any statement so modified or superseded
shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part
of this Registration Statement.  Upon the written or oral request of any person
to whom a copy of this Registration Statement has been delivered, the Company
will provide without charge to such person a copy of any and all documents
(excluding exhibits thereto unless such exhibits are specifically incorporated
by reference into such documents) that have been incorporated by reference into
this Registration Statement but not delivered herewith.  Requests for such
documents should be addressed to Pioneer Natural Resources Company, 1400
Williams Square West, 5205 North O'Connor Boulevard, Irving, Texas 75039,
Attention: Secretary, (972) 444-9001.

ITEM 4. DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.

       Not applicable.


ITEM 5. INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.

       Not applicable.

ITEM 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

       Article Twelfth of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the
Company provides that the Company shall indemnify its officers and directors to
the maximum extent allowed by Delaware General Corporation Law. Pursuant to
Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Company generally has
the power to indemnify its present and former directors and officers against
expenses and liabilities incurred by them in connection with any suit to which
they are, or are threatened to be made, a party by reason of their serving in
those positions so long as they acted in good faith and in a manner they
reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the
Company, and with respect to any criminal action, so long as they had no
reasonable cause to believe their conduct was unlawful.




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       With respect to suits by or in the right of the Company, however,
indemnification is generally limited to attorney's fees and other expenses and
is not available if the person is adjudged to be liable to the Company, unless
the  court determines that indemnification is appropriate.  The statute
expressly provides that the power to indemnify authorized thereby is not
exclusive of any rights granted under any bylaw, agreement, vote of
stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.  The Company also has
the power to purchase and maintain insurance for its directors and officers.
Additionally, Article Twelfth of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation
provides that, in the event that an officer or director files suit against the
Company seeking indemnification of liabilities or expenses incurred, the burden
will be on the Company to prove that the indemnification would not be permitted
under the Delaware General Corporation Law.

       The preceding discussion of the Company's Restated Certificate of
Incorporation and Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law is not
intended to be exhaustive and is qualified in its entirety by the Company's
Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Section 145 of the Delaware General
Corporation Law.

       The Company has entered into indemnity agreements with its directors and
officers.  Pursuant to such agreements, the Company will, to the extent
permitted by applicable law, indemnify such persons against all expenses,
judgments, fines and penalties incurred in connection with the defense or
settlement of any actions brought against them by reason of the fact that they
were directors or officers of the Company or assumed certain responsibilities
at the direction of the Company.

ITEM 7. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.

       Not applicable.

ITEM 8. EXHIBITS.

       Unless otherwise indicated below as being incorporated by reference to
another filing of the Company with the Commission, each of the following
exhibits is filed herewith:

               4.1   --     Pioneer Natural Resources Company Deferred
                            Compensation Retirement Plan.

               5.1   --     (a) Opinion of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

                            (b) The Company will submit the Pioneer Natural
                            Resources Company Deferred Compensation Retirement
                            Plan and any amendment thereto to the Internal
                            Revenue Service ("IRS") in a timely manner and will
                            make all changes required by the IRS in order to
                            qualify the plan.

              23.1   --     Consent of KPMG Peat Marwick LLP.

              23.2   --     Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP.

              23.3   --     Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.

              23.4   --     Consent of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. (included in
                            Exhibit 5.1)

              24.1   --     Powers of Attorney of directors and officers of
                            Pioneer Natural Resources Company (included on page
                            II-4 to this Registration Statement).

ITEM 9. UNDERTAKINGS.

        The Company hereby undertakes:

                     (1)    to file, during any period in which offers or sales
       are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration
       Statement:

                     (i)    to include any prospectus required by section
              10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
              "Securities Act");

                     (ii)   to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
              arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement
              (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which,
              individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change
              in the information set forth in the Registration Statement; and

                     (iii)  to include any material information with respect to
              the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the
              Registration Statement or any material change to such information
              in the Registration Statement; provided, however, that paragraphs
              (1)(i) and (1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be
              included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is
              contained in periodic reports filed by the





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              Company pursuant to section 13 or section 15(d) of the Exchange
              Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration
              Statement.

                     (2)    That, for the purposes of determining any liability
       under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be
       deemed to be a new Registration Statement relating to the securities
       offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall
       be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

                     (3)    To remove from registration by means of a post-
       effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain
       unsold at the termination of the offering.

                     (4)    That, for purposes of determining any liability
       under the Securities Act, each filing of the Company's annual report
       pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that is
       incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement shall be deemed
       to be a new Registration Statement relating to the securities offered
       therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be
       deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

                     (5)    Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising
       under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and
       controlling persons of the Company pursuant to the foregoing provisions,
       or otherwise, the Company has been advised that in the opinion of the
       Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in
       the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the event that
       a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the
       payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid by a director,
       officer or controlling person of the Company in the successful defense
       of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer
       or controlling person in connection with the securities being
       registered, the Company will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the
       matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of
       appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it
       is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be
       governed by the final adjudication of such issue.





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                                   SIGNATURES

       Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
the Company certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets
all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this
Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, in the City of Irving, State of Texas, on the 31st day of
October, 1997.

                            PIONEER NATURAL RESOURCES COMPANY


                            By:  /s/ Scott D. Sheffield                        
                                --------------------------                     
                                   Scott D. Sheffield
                            President and Chief Executive Officer

       Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Registration
Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the
dates indicated. Each person whose signature appears below hereby authorizes
and appoints Scott D. Sheffield, Mark L. Withrow and M. Garrett Smith, or any
of them, as his attorney-in-fact to sign on his behalf individually and in the
capacity stated below all amendments and post-effective amendments to this
Registration Statement (including any additional registration statement filed
pursuant to Rule 462 of the Securities Act with respect to this Registration
Statement) as that attorney-in-fact may deem necessary or appropriate.



                    Signature                                      Capacity                         Date
                    ---------                                      --------                         ----
                                                                                                
             /s/ Scott D. Sheffield                 President, Chief Executive Officer and    October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------                   Director                  
                Scott D. Sheffield                      (Principal Executive Officer)


             /s/ M. Garrett Smith                    Senior Vice President--Finance and       October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------             Assistant Secretary             
                M. Garrett Smith                      (Principal Financial Officer and
                                                        Principal Accounting Officer)


             /s/ I. Jon Brumley                              Chairman of the Board            October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------             
                  I. Jon Brumley


             /s/ R. Hartwell Gardner                               Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------             
               R. Hartwell Gardner



             /s/  John S. Herrington                               Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------             
                John S. Herrington


              /s/ Kenneth A. Hersh                                 Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------             
                 Kenneth A. Hersh


             /s/ James L. Houghton                                 Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------             
                James L. Houghton






                                      II-4
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               /s/ Jerry P. Jones                               Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------             
                  Jerry P. Jones


                                                                Director                                         
- ------------------------------------------------
                 T. Boone Pickens


            /s/ Richard E. Rainwater                            Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------
               Richard E. Rainwater


           /s/ Charles E. Ramsey, Jr.                           Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------
              Charles E. Ramsey, Jr.


              /s/ Arthur L. Smith                               Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------
                 Arthur L. Smith


              /s/ Philip B. Smith                               Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------
                 Philip B. Smith


            /s/ Robert L. Stillwell                             Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------
               Robert L. Stillwell


             /s/ Michael D. Wortley                             Director                   October 31, 1997
- ------------------------------------------------
                Michael D. Wortley

PIONEER NATURAL RESOURCES COMPANY
DEFERRED COMPENSATION RETIREMENT PLAN

By: Compensation Committee of the                                                          October 31, 1997
    Board of Directors of Pioneer
    Natural Resources Company

By: /s/ Charles E. Ramsey, Jr.
   ---------------------------------------------
        Charles E. Ramsey, Jr.
        Chairman of Compensation 
        Committee








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                                 EXHIBIT INDEX




Exhibit                            Description of Exhibit
- -------                            ----------------------
               
       4.1    --     Pioneer Natural Resources Company Deferred Compensation
                     Retirement Plan.

       5.1    --     (a) Opinion of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

                     (b) The Company will submit the Pioneer Natural Resources
                     Company Deferred Compensation Retirement Plan and any
                     amendment thereto to IRS in a timely manner and will make
                     all changes required by the IRS in order to qualify the
                     plan.
        
       23.1   --     Consent of KPMG Peat Marwick LLP.

       23.2   --     Consent of Arthur Andersen LLP.

       23.3   --     Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.

       23.4   --     Consent of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. (included in 
                     Exhibit 5.1)

       24.1   --     Powers of Attorney of directors and officers of Pioneer
                     Natural Resources Company (included on page II-4 to this
                     Registration Statement).