8-K

                                
                                
                                
               SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                                
                                
                     Washington, D. C. 20549
                                
                                
                                
                            FORM 8-K
                                
                                
                                
                         CURRENT REPORT
                                
                                
                                
                  Pursuant to Section 13 of the
                 Securities Exchange Act of 1934
                                
                                
                                
 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) - May 9, 1997
                                
                                
                                
                     FOREST OIL CORPORATION
     (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



   New York                  0-4597                 25-0484900
(State or other juris-    (Commission             (IRS Employer
diction of incorporation) file number)         Identification No.)


     2200 Colorado State Bank Building, 1600 Broadway, Denver, CO  80202
               (Address of principal executive offices)     (Zip Code)
                                
                                
      Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (303) 812-1400
                                
                                

Item 5.  Other Events

       For information concerning this item, please refer to
Exhibit 99.1 hereto, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 7.  Financial Statements and Exhibits

       (c)  Exhibits

           (99.1)    Forest Oil Corporation press release
       announcing that it has exercised its right to purchase an
       additional 2,411,400 shares of Saxon Petroleum Inc.

Item 9.  Sales of Equity Securities Pursuant to Regulation S.

       On May 9, 1997, the Company acquired, pursuant to the
exercise of certain options, 2,411,400 shares of Saxon Petroleum
Inc. in exchange for 65,367 shares of Forest Oil Corporation
Common Stock.  The Company also converted 1,987,741 Non-Voting
Convertible shares into an equal number of Common shares.  The
Forest shares were issued pursuant to an exemption provided by
Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933.  Saxon Petroleum Inc.
is an Alberta, Canada corporation.

       The Company currently owns 48,357,283 Common shares and
41,483,033 Non-Voting Convertible shares, representing
approximately 49.9% of the outstanding Common shares and all of
the outstanding Non-Voting Convertible shares.


       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.


                                   FOREST OIL CORPORATION
                                        (Registrant)



Dated:  May 9, 1997                By: /s/ Daniel L. McNamara
                                      Daniel L. McNamara
                                         Secretary

EX-99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                
                                
        FOREST OIL ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL SAXON INVESTMENT


DENVER, COLORADO - MAY 7, 1997 - Forest Oil Corporation
(NASDAQ:FOIL) announced today that pursuant to its Equity
Participation Agreement with Saxon Petroleum Inc., Forest has
exercised its right to purchase from the treasury of Saxon an
additional 2,411,400 common shares of Saxon.  Additionally,
Forest has converted 1,987,741 non-voting convertible shares to
common shares.  As a result of the purchase and conversion,
Forest now owns approximately 65% of the outstanding shares of
Saxon consisting of 48,357,283 common shares and 41,483,033 non-
voting convertible shares.

Forest Oil Corporation is engaged in the acquisition,
exploration, development, production and marketing of natural gas
and crude oil in North America.  Forest's principal reserves and
producing properties are located in the Gulf of Mexico, Texas,
Oklahoma and Canada.  Forest's common stock trades on the Nasdaq
National Market tier of The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol
FOIL.  Saxon's common stock is traded on the Toronto stock
exchange under the symbol SXN.

May 7, 1997