EXHIBIT 99.1


                                  NEWS RELEASE

                                                    Investor Relations Contacts:
                                Susan Spratlen or Chris Paulsen   (972) 444-9001

                    Pioneer Announces Executive Appointments

Dallas, Texas, November 18, 2004 -- Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD)
today  announced that Timothy L. ("Tim") Dove has been named President and Chief
Operating  Officer and Richard P. ("Rich")  Dealy has been named  Executive Vice
President and Chief  Financial  Officer.  Both positions will report to Scott D.
Sheffield, Pioneer's Chairman and CEO.

As President and COO, Mr. Dove will be responsible  for all of Pioneer's oil and
gas  assets  and  operations,  both  domestic  and  international,  and  for the
Company's  engineering  and oil and  gas  marketing  activities.  Mr.  Dove  was
formerly Pioneer's Executive Vice President and CFO.

"As an integral part of our management  team for many years,  Tim has earned our
respect as a  strategic  leader  with a broad  depth of  knowledge,"  stated Mr.
Sheffield.  "I  am  confident  that  our  asset  teams  will  benefit  from  his
leadership,  and I look  forward  to  continuing  to work  with Tim to  increase
Pioneer's value for our stakeholders and employees."

Mr. Dealy, currently Pioneer's Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, will
replace Mr. Dove as CFO, and Darin G.  Holderness has agreed to join the Company
as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. He will report to Mr. Dealy.

"Rich is a valued member of Pioneer's management team, and I'm certain that with
his financial  experience and leadership  skills,  he will continue to serve the
Company well as CFO. We also welcome Darin to Pioneer to head up our  accounting
group,  and are  pleased to be gaining  the  benefit of his  extensive  industry
experience," stated Mr. Sheffield.

Mr.  Dove has been with  Pioneer for the past 10 years  serving in various  vice
president roles with  responsibility  for international  activities and business
development and has served as Executive Vice President and CFO since 2000. Prior
to joining  Pioneer,  he was with  Diamond  Shamrock  and its  successor,  Maxus
Energy,   serving  in  various  capacities  in  international   exploration  and
production,  marketing,  refining, and planning and development. Mr. Dove earned
his Bachelor of Science  degree in  mechanical  engineering  from  Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in 1979 and received his M.B.A.  from the  University of
Chicago in 1981.

Mr.  Dealy  joined  Pioneer's  accounting  team in 1992 and was promoted to Vice
President and Chief Accounting Officer in 1998 having served as Controller since
1995. He is a Certified Public Accountant,  and prior to joining Pioneer, he was
with KPMG Peat Marwick.  Mr. Dealy graduated with honors from Eastern New Mexico
University with a Bachelor of Business  Administration  degree in Accounting and
Finance.

Mr.  Holderness is also a Certified Public  Accountant and joins Pioneer with 18
years of  industry  accounting  experience,  most  recently  as Vice  President,
Finance and Treasurer of Basic Energy Services,  Inc. He joined a predecessor of
Pure Resources,  Inc. in 1998 as an officer and Assistant  Controller and became
Vice  President and  Controller in 2002. He began his  professional  career with
KPMG Peat Marwick in 1986 after  graduating  from Boise State  University with a
Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting.

Pioneer is a large  independent oil and gas  exploration and production  company
with  operations in the United States,  Argentina,  Canada,  Equatorial  Guinea,
South  Africa  and  Tunisia.  Pioneer's  headquarters  are in  Dallas.  For more
information, visit Pioneer's website at www.pioneernrc.com.





Except for historical  information contained herein, the statements in this News
Release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor
Provisions   of  the  Private   Securities   Litigation   Reform  Act  of  1995.
Forward-looking  statements and the business prospects of Pioneer are subject to
a number of risks and  uncertainties  that may cause Pioneer's actual results in
future periods to differ materially from the forward-looking  statements.  These
risks and uncertainties include,  among other things,  volatility of oil and gas
prices, product supply and demand, competition, government regulation or action,
international  operations  and associated  international  political and economic
instability,  litigation,  the costs and  results of  drilling  and  operations,
Pioneer's ability to replace reserves, implement its business plans, or complete
its  development  projects  as  scheduled,   access  to  and  cost  of  capital,
uncertainties   about   estimates  of  reserves,   quality  of  technical  data,
environmental and weather risks, acts of war or terrorism. These and other risks
are  described  in Pioneer's  10-K and 10-Q  Reports and other  filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.