8-K

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549




                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT

     Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934



         Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): July 28, 1998
                                                           -------------


                             PYR Energy Corporation
              ----------------------------------------------------
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



         Delaware                      0-20879                  95-4580642
         --------                      -------                  ----------
(State or other jurisdiction       (Commission File            (IRS Employer
    of incorporation)                  Number)               Identification No.)



                1675 Broadway, Suite 1150, Denver, Colorado 80202
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              (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)



        Registrant's telephone number, including area code (303) 825-3748
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Item 5. Other Events.
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     Press  Release.  The press release of the  Registrant  dated July 28, 1998,
which is filed as an exhibit hereto, is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 7. Financial Statements And Exhibits.
        ----------------------------------
         
     (c) Exhibits.

                                  Exhibit Index
                                  -------------

Exhibit
Number      Description
- ------      -----------

99.1        Press release dated July 28, 1998.


                                    SIGNATURE
                                    ---------

     Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.


Date:  July 31, 1998                        PYR ENERGY CORPORATION



                                            By:  /s/ Andrew P. Calerich
                                                 -------------------------------
                                                 Andrew P. Calerich
                                                 Chief Financial Officer

EX-99.1

                                                                   

                                  EXHIBIT 99.1


On July 28, 1998, the Registrant issued the following press release:


        PYR ENERGY COMMENCES DRILLING SECOND CALIFORNIA EXPLORATION WELL
        ----------------------------------------------------------------

     DENVER - PYR Energy  Corporation  (OTC EBB: PYRX) today announced the start
of drilling operations on its Rainbow 'Stevens' Prospect in the School Road area
of the  southern  San Joaquin  Basin of  California.  The Federal # 67X-30 well,
located in SE1/4, Sec 30, T32S, R25E, is 2.5 miles to the southeast of the Buena
Vista field,  which has  cumulative  production  of 836 million BOE, and 3 miles
directly east of the  Midway-Sunset  field,  which has cumulative  production in
excess of 2.5 billion BOE. PYR anticipates the well will take  approximately  45
days to reach its estimated total depth of 12,500 feet.

     PYR  Energy  has  retained  a 40%  working  interest  in the  prospect  and
surrounding area of mutual interest.  This initial test well is designed to test
multiple  upper  Miocene  'Stevens'   sandstone   reservoirs  in  a  combination
structural/stratigraphic  feature  as defined by a  42-square-mile  3-D  seismic
survey.

     The School  Road  project  is the  second in a series of three  exploration
projects to be drilled by PYR in 1998. The first project,  East Lost Hills,  was
spud on May 14, 1998 and is currently drilling ahead toward an anticipated total
depth of 19,000 feet. In the third project at SE Maricopa,  a 52-square-mile 3-D
seismic survey has been acquired and is currently in processing.

     PYR Energy  Corporation  applies  advanced  3-D seismic and  computer-aided
exploration  technologies to systematically  explore for and exploit onshore oil
and natural gas accumulations in the western United States.

                                      # # #

This  release   contains   forward-looking   statements   regarding  PYR  Energy
Corporation's  future plans and expected  performance  based on assumptions  the
Company  believes to be reasonable.  A number of risks and  uncertainties  could
cause actual  results to differ  materially  from these  statements,  including,
without  limitation,  the success rate of exploration efforts and the timeliness
of development  activities,  fluctuations in oil and gas prices,  and other risk
factors described from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the SEC.
In addition,  the Company operates in an industry sector where securities values
are highly  volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors  beyond
the Company's control.