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                                FORM 10-Q


                    SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                         WASHINGTON, D.C.  20549

(Mark One)

(X)  QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
     OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 1998

                                    OR

( )  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
     OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ________________ to ________________

Commission file number 0-17707


               Southwest Oil & Gas Income Fund VIII-A, L.P.
                  (Exact name of registrant as specified
                  in its limited partnership agreement)

Delaware                                        75-2220097
(State or other jurisdiction of                (I.R.S. Employer
 incorporation or organization)               Identification No.)



                       407 N. Big Spring, Suite 300
                           Midland, Texas 79701
                 (Address of principal executive offices)

                             (915) 686-9927
                     (Registrant's telephone number,
                           including area code)

Indicate  by  check  mark  whether registrant (1)  has  filed  all  reports
required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange  Act
of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject  to
such filing requirements for the past 90 days:

                            Yes   X   No

        The total number of pages contained in this report is 13.

<PAGE>
                     PART I. - FINANCIAL INFORMATION


Item 1. Financial Statements

The  unaudited  condensed financial statements included  herein  have  been
prepared  by  the Registrant (herein also referred to as the "Partnership")
in  accordance  with generally accepted accounting principles  for  interim
financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01
of Regulation S-X.  Accordingly, they do not include all of the information
and  footnotes  required  by generally accepted accounting  principles  for
complete   financial  statements.   In  the  opinion  of  management,   all
adjustments necessary for a fair presentation have been included and are of
a  normal  recurring nature.  The financial statements should  be  read  in
conjunction with the audited financial statements and the notes thereto for
the  year ended December 31, 1997 which are found in the Registrant's  Form
10-K  Report  for  1997 filed with the Securities and Exchange  Commission.
The December 31, 1997 balance sheet included herein has been taken from the
Registrant's 1997 Form 10-K Report.  Operating results for the three  month
period  ended March 31, 1998 are not necessarily indicative of the  results
that may be expected for the full year.

<PAGE>
               Southwest Oil & Gas Income Fund VIII-A, L.P.

                              Balance Sheets


                                                  March 31,     December 31,
                                                     1998           1997
                                                     ----           ----
                                                 (unaudited)
  Assets

Current assets:
 Cash and cash equivalents                    $     14,821          2,669
 Receivable from Managing General Partner           80,912        141,933
 Other Receivable                                        -         40,239
                                                 ---------      ---------
    Total current assets                            95,733        184,841
                                                 ---------      ---------
Oil and gas properties - using
 the full-cost method of accounting              5,400,442      5,406,615
  Less accumulated depreciation,
   depletion and amortization                    4,334,109      4,281,109
                                                 ---------      ---------
    Net oil and gas properties                   1,066,333      1,125,506
                                                 ---------      ---------
                                              $  1,162,066      1,310,347
                                                 =========      =========

  Liabilities and Partners' Equity

Current liabilities - Distributions payable            281            686
                                                 ---------      ---------
Partners' equity:
 General partners                                    1,642         10,405
 Limited partners                                1,160,143      1,299,256
                                                 ---------      ---------
    Total partners' equity                       1,161,785      1,309,661
                                                 ---------      ---------
                                              $  1,162,066      1,310,347
                                                 =========      =========

<PAGE>
               Southwest Oil & Gas Income Fund VIII-A, L.P.

                         Statements of Operations
                               (unaudited)


                                                        Three Months Ended
                                                            March 31,
                                                          1998      1997
                                                          ----      ----
  Revenues

Oil and gas                                         $   278,986    377,458
Interest                                                    784        735
                                                        -------    -------
                                                        279,770    378,193
                                                        -------    -------
  Expenses

Production                                              197,669    205,701
General and administrative                               34,741     34,024
Depreciation, depletion and amortization                 53,000     26,000
                                                        -------    -------
                                                        285,410    265,725
                                                        -------    -------
Net income (loss)                                   $   (5,640)    112,468
                                                        =======    =======
Net income (loss) allocated to:

 Managing General Partner                           $     4,262     12,462
                                                        =======    =======
 General partner                                    $       474      1,385
                                                        =======    =======
 Limited partners                                   $  (10,376)     98,621
                                                        =======    =======
  Per limited partner unit                          $     (.77)       7.25
                                                        =======    =======

<PAGE>
               Southwest Oil & Gas Income Fund VIII-A, L.P.

                         Statements of Cash Flows
                               (unaudited)


                                                        Three Months Ended
                                                            March 31,
                                                          1998      1997
                                                          ----      ----
Cash flows from operating activities:

 Cash received from oil and gas sales               $   331,666    477,273
 Cash paid to suppliers                               (224,069)  (259,524)
 Interest received                                          784        735
                                                       --------   --------
  Net cash provided by operating activities             108,381    218,484
                                                       --------   --------
Cash flows from investing activities:

 Sale of oil and gas properties                          50,634         72
 Additions to oil and gas properties                    (4,222)    (6,046)
                                                       --------   --------
  Net cash provided by (used in) investing
   activities                                            46,412    (5,974)
                                                       --------   --------
Cash flows used in financing activities:

 Distributions to partners                            (142,641)  (245,082)
                                                       --------   --------
Net increase (decrease) in cash and
 cash equivalents                                        12,152   (32,572)

 Beginning of period                                      2,669     55,844
                                                       --------   --------
 End of period                                      $    14,821     23,272
                                                       ========   ========

                                                               (continued)

<PAGE>
               Southwest Oil & Gas Income Fund VIII-A, L.P.

                   Statements of Cash Flows, continued
                               (unaudited)


                                                        Three Months Ended
                                                            March 31,
                                                          1998      1997
                                                          ----      ----
Reconciliation of net income (loss) to net cash
 provided by operating activities:

Net income (loss)                                   $   (5,640)    112,468

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net
 cash provided by operating activities:

  Depreciation, depletion and amortization               53,000     26,000
  Decrease in receivables                                52,680     99,815
  Increase (decrease) in payables                         8,341   (19,799)
                                                        -------    -------
Net cash provided by operating activities           $   108,381    218,484
                                                        =======    =======

Supplemental schedule of noncash investing
 and financial activities:

  Overcharge for oil and gas properties
   included in receivable from Managing General
    Partner                                         $         -      5,404

<PAGE>
               Southwest Oil & Gas Income Fund VIII-A, L.P.
                     (a Delaware limited partnership)

                      Notes to Financial Statements


1.   Organization
     Southwest  Oil & Gas Income Fund VIII-A, L.P. was organized under  the
     laws of the state of Delaware on November 30, 1987, for the purpose of
     acquiring  producing oil and gas properties and to produce and  market
     crude oil and natural gas produced from such properties for a term  of
     50  years, unless terminated at an earlier date as provided for in the
     Partnership  Agreement.   The  Partnership  sells  its  oil  and   gas
     production  to  a  variety of purchasers with the prices  it  receives
     being  dependent  upon the oil and gas economy.  Southwest  Royalties,
     Inc.  serves  as the Managing General Partner and H. H. Wommack,  III,
     as  the individual general partner.  Revenues, costs and expenses  are
     allocated as follows:

                                                     Limited      General
                                                     Partners     Partners
                                                     --------     --------
     Interest income on capital contributions          100%          -
     Oil and gas sales                                  90%         10%
     All other revenues                                 90%         10%
     Organization and offering costs (1)               100%          -
     Amortization of organization costs                100%          -
     Syndication costs                                 100%          -
     Property acquisition costs                        100%          -
     Gain/loss on property disposition                  90%         10%
     Operating and administrative costs (2)             90%         10%
     Depreciation, depletion and amortization
      of oil and gas properties                        100%          -
     All other costs                                    90%         10%

          (1)All  organization  costs in excess of 3%  of  initial  capital
          contributions  will be paid by the Managing General  Partner  and
          will  be treated as a capital contribution.  The Partnership paid
          the  Managing  General Partner an amount equal to 3%  of  initial
          capital contributions for such organization costs.

          (2)Administrative costs in any year which exceed  2%  of  capital
          contributions shall be paid by the Managing General  Partner  and
          will be treated as a capital contribution.

2.   Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
     The  interim financial information as of March 31, 1998, and  for  the
     three  months ended March 31, 1998, is unaudited.  Certain information
     and  footnote  disclosures normally included in  financial  statements
     prepared  in accordance with generally accepted accounting  principles
     have been condensed or omitted in this Form 10-Q pursuant to the rules
     and  regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.   However,
     in  the  opinion  of  management, these interim  financial  statements
     include all the necessary adjustments to fairly present the results of
     the interim periods and all such adjustments are of a normal recurring
     nature.  The interim consolidated financial statements should be  read
     in  conjunction  with the audited financial statements  for  the  year
     ended December 31, 1997.

<PAGE>

Item 2.   Management's  Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition  and
          Results of Operations

General

Southwest  Oil & Gas Income Fund VIII-A, L.P. was organized as  a  Delaware
limited  partnership  on November 30, 1987. The offering  of  such  limited
partnership interests began on March 31, 1988, minimum capital requirements
were  met  on July 6, 1988, and the offering concluded on March  31,  1989,
with total limited partner contributions of $6,798,000.

The  Partnership was formed to acquire interests in producing oil  and  gas
properties,  to produce and market crude oil and natural gas produced  from
such properties, and to distribute the net proceeds from operations to  the
limited  and  general partners.  Net revenues from producing  oil  and  gas
properties are not reinvested in other revenue producing assets  except  to
the extent that production facilities and wells are improved or reworked or
where methods are employed to improve or enable more efficient recovery  of
oil and gas reserves.

Increases   or   decreases   in  Partnership   revenues   and,   therefore,
distributions  to partners will depend primarily on changes in  the  prices
received  for production, changes in volumes of production sold,  increases
and  decreases  in  lease operating expenses, enhanced  recovery  projects,
offset  drilling  activities pursuant to farm-out  arrangements,  sales  of
properties,  and  the depletion of wells.  Since wells deplete  over  time,
production can generally be expected to decline from year to year.

Well  operating costs and general and administrative costs usually decrease
with   production   declines;  however,  these  costs  may   not   decrease
proportionately.  Net income available for distribution to the partners  is
therefore expected to fluctuate in later years based on these factors.

Based  on  current conditions, management anticipates performing  workovers
during the next year to enhance production.  The Partnership may undergo an
increase in 1998.  Thereafter, the Partnership could possibly experience  a
normal decline of 10% to 12% per year.

<PAGE>
Results of Operations

A. General Comparison of the Quarters Ended March 31, 1998 and 1997

The  following  table  provides certain information  regarding  performance
factors for the quarters ended March 31, 1998 and 1997:

                                               Three Months
                                                  Ended         Percentage
                                                March 31,         Increase
                                              1998      1997     (Decrease)
                                              ----      ----     ----------
Average price per barrel of oil           $   14.20     21.62    (34%)
Average price per mcf of gas              $    2.48      2.37       5%
Oil production in barrels                    15,800    15,000       5%
Gas production in mcf                        22,100    22,400     (1%)
Gross oil and gas revenue                 $ 278,986   377,458    (26%)
Net oil and gas revenue                   $  81,317   171,757    (53%)
Partnership distributions                 $ 142,237   245,000    (42%)
Limited partner distributions             $ 128,737   220,500    (42%)
Per unit distribution to limited
 partners                                 $    9.47     16.22    (42%)
Number of limited partner units              13,596    13,596

Revenues

The  Partnership's oil and gas revenues decreased to $278,986 from $377,458
for the quarters ended March 31, 1998 and 1997, respectively, a decrease of
26%.   The principal factors affecting the comparison of the quarters ended
March 31, 1998 and 1997 are as follows:

1.  The  average  price  for a barrel of oil received  by  the  Partnership
    decreased  during the quarter ended March 31, 1998 as compared  to  the
    quarter ended March 31, 1997 by 34%, or $7.42 per barrel, resulting  in
    a   decrease  of  approximately  $111,300  in  revenues.    Oil   sales
    represented  80%  of total oil and gas sales during the  quarter  ended
    March  31,  1997 as compared to 20% during the quarter ended March  31,
    1997.

    The  average  price  for  an  mcf of gas received  by  the  Partnership
    increased  during the same period by 5%, or $.11 per mcf, resulting  in
    an increase of approximately $2,464 in revenues.

    The total net decrease in revenues due to the change in prices received
    from  oil  and  gas production is approximately $108,836.   The  market
    price  for oil and gas has been extremely volatile over the past decade
    and  management expects a certain amount of volatility to  continue  in
    the foreseeable future.

<PAGE>
2.  Oil  production increased approximately 800 barrels or  5%  during  the
    quarter ended March 31, 1998 as compared to the quarter ended March 31,
    1997, resulting in an increase of approximately $11,360 in revenues.

    Gas  production decreased approximately 300 mcf or 1% during  the  same
    period, resulting in a decrease of approximately $744 in revenues.

    The  total net increase in revenues due to the change in production  is
    approximately $11,060.

Costs and Expenses

Total  costs  and  expenses increased to $285,410  from  $265,725  for  the
quarters  ended March 31, 1998 and 1997, respectively, an increase  of  7%.
The increase is the result of higher general and administrative expense and
depletion expense partially offset by lease operating cost.

1.  Lease   operating  costs  and  production  taxes  were  4%  lower,   or
    approximately $8,032 less during the quarter ended March  31,  1998  as
    compared to the quarter ended March 31, 1997.

2.  General and administrative costs consist of independent accounting  and
    engineering  fees,  computer services, postage,  and  Managing  General
    Partner personnel costs.  General and administrative costs increased 2%
    or  approximately  $717  during the quarter ended  March  31,  1998  as
    compared to the quarter ended March 31, 1997.

3.  Depletion expense increased to $53,000 for the quarter ended March  31,
    1998  from  $26,000  for the same period in 1997.  This  represents  an
    increase  of 104%.  Depletion is calculated using the units of  revenue
    method  of  amortization based on a percentage of current period  gross
    revenues  to  total future gross oil and gas revenues, as estimated  by
    the  Partnership's  independent  petroleum  consultants.   Contributing
    factors  to  the increase in depletion expense between the  comparative
    periods  were  the decrease in the price of oil used to  determine  the
    Partnership's reserve for January 1, 1998 as compared to 1997.

<PAGE>
Liquidity and Capital Resources

The  primary source of cash is from operations, the receipt of income  from
interests in oil and gas properties.  The Partnership knows of no  material
change, nor does it anticipate any such change.

Cash flows provided by operating activities were approximately $108,400  in
the  quarter ended March 31, 1998 as compared to approximately $218,500  in
the quarter ended March 31, 1997.  The primary source of the 1998 cash flow
from operating activities was profitable operations.

Cash flows provided by or (used in) investing activities were approximately
$46,400  in  the quarter ended March 31, 1998 as compared to  approximately
$(6,000) in the quarter ended March 31, 1997.  The principle source of  the
1998  cash  flow  from investing activities was the sale  of  oil  and  gas
properties.

Cash flows used in financing activities were approximately $142,600 in  the
quarter ended March 31, 1998 as compared to approximately $245,100  in  the
quarter ended March 31, 1997.  The only use in financing activities was the
distributions to partners.

Total  distributions during the quarter ended March 31, 1998 were  $142,237
of  which  $128,737 was distributed to the limited partners and $13,500  to
the general partners.  The per unit distribution to limited partners during
the quarter ended March 31, 1998 was $9.47.  Total distributions during the
quarter  ended  March  31,  1997  were  $245,000  of  which  $220,500   was
distributed  to  the limited partners and $24,500 to the general  partners.
The  per  unit  distribution to limited partners during the  quarter  ended
March 31, 1997 was $16.22.

The  sources  for  the  1998 distributions of $142,600  were  oil  and  gas
operations of approximately $108,400 and the sale of oil and gas properties
of  approximately  $46,400.   The sources for  the  1997  distributions  of
$245,000 were oil and gas operations of approximately $218,500 and the sale
of  oil and gas properties of approximately $70, offset by additions to oil
and gas properties of approximately $6,000, with the balance from available
cash on hand at the beginning of the period.

Since  inception of the Partnership, cumulative monthly cash  distributions
of  $6,998,888  have  been made to the partners.  As  of  March  31,  1998,
$6,339,367 or $466.27 per limited partner unit has been distributed to  the
limited partners, representing a 93% return of the capital contributed.

As  of March 31, 1998, the Partnership had approximately $95,452 in working
capital.   The  Managing  General Partner knows of no  unusual  contractual
commitments  and  believes  the  revenues  generated  from  operations  are
adequate to meet the needs of the Partnership.

<PAGE>
                       PART II. - OTHER INFORMATION


Item 1.   Legal Proceedings

          None

Item 2.   Changes in Securities

          None

Item 3.   Defaults Upon Senior Securities

          None

Item 4.   Submission of Matter to a Vote of Security Holders

          None

Item 5.   Other Information

          None

Item 6.   Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K

          (a) Exhibits:

               27  Financial Data Schedule

               (b)  Reports on Form 8-K:

                     No  reports on Form 8-K were filed during the  quarter
               for which this report is filed.

<PAGE>
                                SIGNATURES


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 thereunto duly authorized.


                              SOUTHWEST OIL & GAS
                              INCOME FUND VIII-A, L.P.
                              a Delaware limited partnership


                              By:  Southwest Royalties, Inc.
                                   Managing General Partner


                              By:  /s/ Bill E. Coggin
                                   ------------------------------
                                   Bill E. Coggin, Vice President
                                   and Chief Financial Officer


Date:  May 15, 1998

<PAGE>