April 14, 2005

PETROLEUM & RESOURCES CORPORATION DECLARES DIVIDEND AND ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- April 14, 2005 - The Board of Directors of Petroleum & Resources Corporation today declared an interim dividend of $0.13 per share, payable June 1, 2005, to stockholders of record May 19, 2005, and announced the fund's performance for the First Quarter.

For the three months ended March 31st, the total return on Petroleum & Resources' net asset value, after adjusting for income dividends as well as capital gain distributions paid, was 11.7 percent. Comparable figures for the Dow Jones Oil and Gas Index and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were 17.1 percent and -2.1 percent, respectively.

For the twelve months ended March 31st, the total return on Petroleum & Resources' net asset value, after adjusting for income dividends as well as capital gain distributions paid, was 33.2 percent. Comparable figures for the Dow Jones Oil and Gas Index and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were 44.9 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.

Petroleum & Resources' net asset value at March 31, 2005, is compared with the year earlier in the following table:

*After capital gain distribution of $0.08 per share paid in March 2005.

The net capital gain realized on investments for the three months ended March 31, 2005 was $0.23 per share.

SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS

During the First Quarter, Petroleum & Resources added two new names to its investment list with the additions of Holly Corp. and Precision Drilling Corp., and increased its holdings in Chevron Texaco Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., Murphy Oil Corp., and Williams Companies, Inc. The holdings in Aquila Inc. and OfficeMax, Inc. were eliminated, and the holdings in Amerada Hess Corp., Burlington Resources Inc., ConocoPhillips, Equitable Resources Inc., Keyspan Corp., Pioneer Natural Resources Co., Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. ADR, and Total S.A. ADR were reduced.

The First Quarter Report is expected to be released on or about April 22, 2005.

Petroleum & Resources Corporation is a Baltimore-based closed-end investment company. It is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Pacific Exchange, and its symbol is PEO.

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For further information, please contact:

Douglas G. Ober, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & President
Lawrence L. Hooper, Jr., Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
(410) 752-5900 or (800) 638-2479

E-mail: contact@peteres.com
Website: www.peteres.com

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