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SIGNATURE J.G. WHITNEY
TITLE VICE PRES-SECRETARY
[COOPERS & LYBRAND LETTERHEAD]
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
To the Board of Directors of
Petroleum & Resources
Corporation:
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements and
financial highlights of Petroleum & Resources Corporation for the year ended
December 31, 1996, we considered its internal control structure, including
procedures for safeguarding securities, in order to determine our auditing
procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements
and financial highlights and to comply with the requirements of Form N-SAR, not
to provide assurance on the internal control structure.
The management of Petroleum & Resources Corporation is responsible for
establishing and maintaining an internal control structure. In fulfilling this
responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the
expected benefits and related costs of internal control structure policies and
procedures. Two of the objectives of an internal control structure are to
provide management with reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets are
safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or disposition and that
transactions are executed in accordance with management's authorization and
recorded properly to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity
with generally accepted accounting principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control structure,
errors or irregularities may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any
evaluation of the structure to future periods is subject to the risk that it may
become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the effectiveness of
the design and operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control structure would not
necessarily disclose all matters in the internal control structure that might be
material weaknesses under standards established by the American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants. A material weakness is a condition in which the
design or operation of the specific internal control structure elements does not
reduce to a relatively low level the risk that errors or irregularities in
amounts that would be material in relation to the financial statements and
financial highlights being audited may occur and not be detected within a timely
period by employees in the normal course of performing their assigned functions.
However, we noted no matters involving the internal control structure, including
procedures for safeguarding securities, that we consider to be material
weaknesses, as defined above, as of December 31, 1996.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of the Board
of Directors and management of Petroleum & Resources Corporation and the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
/s/ Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.
--------------------------------------
COOPERS & LYBRAND, L.L.P.
Baltimore, Maryland
January 8, 1997
