BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- April 8, 2004 - The Board of Directors of Petroleum & Resources Corporation today declared an interim dividend of $0.13 per share, payable June 1, 2004, to stockholders of record May 17, 2004, 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 3.3 percent. Comparable figures for the Dow Jones Energy Index and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were 5.0 percent and 1.7 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 28.2 percent. Comparable figures for the Dow Jones Energy Index and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were 29.1 percent and 35.1 percent, respectively.
Petroleum & Resources' net asset value at March 31, 2004, is compared with the year earlier in the following table:
Net Asset Value
| 3/31/04 | 3/31/03 | |
| Net assets | $537,220,905 | $438,961,751 |
| Shares outstanding | 21,736,777 | 21,460,567 |
| Net assets per share | $24.71* | $20.45 |
*After capital gain distribution of $0.09 per share paid in March 2004.
SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
During the three months ended March 31, 2004, Petroleum & Resources added two new names to its investment list with the addition of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. and XTO Energy Inc., and eliminated its holding in El Paso Corp. The Corporation increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., BP plc ADR, ConocoPhillips, General Electric Co., and Pioneer Natural Resources Co., and reduced its holdings in Apache Corp., Aqua America, Inc., Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., "Shell" Transport & Trading Co. plc ADR, and Temple-Inland Inc.
The First Quarter Report is expected to be released on or about April 23, 2004.
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.
###
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
For your convenience, all press releases are posted to our website. If you would like to receive future press releases by fax or e-mail, please let us know.