In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statement of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Petroleum & Resources Corporation, hereafter referred to as the "Corporation", at December 31, 1998, and the results of its operations for the year then ended, the changes in its net assets for each of the two years in the period then ended and the financial highlights for each of the five years in the period then ended in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as "financial statements") are the responsibility of the Corporation's management; our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards which require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 1998, by correspondence with custodians and brokers, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP