EXHIBIT 99.1


                                  NEWS RELEASE

                                                               Company Contacts:
                                       Investors: Frank Hopkins or Chris Paulsen
                                      Media and Public Affairs:   Susan Spratlen
                                                                  (972) 444-9001

                     Pioneer Announces Executive Appointment

Dallas,  Texas,  March 30, 2005 -- Pioneer Natural Resources Company  (NYSE:PXD)
today  announced  that  Mark S. Berg will join the  Company  as  Executive  Vice
President, General Counsel and Secretary effective April 1, 2005. He will report
to Scott Sheffield,  Pioneer's  Chairman and Chief Executive  Officer,  and will
replace Mark Withrow whose resignation was announced earlier this year.

Mr. Berg served as Executive Vice  President,  General  Counsel and Secretary of
American  General  Corporation,  a Fortune 200  diversified  financial  services
company.  Subsequent to the sale of American  General to American  International
Group,  Mr.  Berg was  appointed  Senior  Vice  President,  General  Counsel and
Secretary of Hanover Compressor Company, a NYSE company  specializing in natural
gas  compression  and  processing.  Mr.  Berg  began his career in 1983 with the
Houston-based  law firm of Vinson & Elkins LLP, and he was elected to the firm's
partnership in 1990.

Mr. Berg  graduated  with a Bachelor of Arts  degree from Tulane  University  in
1980,  and he earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law
in 1983.

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.