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SIGNATURE LAWRENCE L. HOOPER, JR.
TITLE SEC. & GEN. COUNSEL
[COOPERS & LYBRAND LOGO]
COOPERS & LYBRAND L.L.P.
a professional services firm
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
Petroleum & Resources Corporation:
We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities of
Petroleum & Resources Corporation, including the schedule of investments,
as of December 31, 1997, and the related statement of operations for the
year then ended, the statement of changes in 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. These financial statements and financial
highlights are the responsibility of the Corporation's management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and
financial highlights based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements and financial
highlights are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining,
on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the
financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of investments owned
as of December 31, 1997, by correspondence with the custodian and brokers.
An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial
statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis
for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements and financial highlights referred to
above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
Petroleum & Resources Corporation as of December 31, 1997, and the results
of its operations, the changes in its net assets, and financial highlights
for each of the respective periods stated in the first paragraph, in conformity
with generally accepted accounting principles.
/s/ COOPERS & LYBRAND L.L.P.
----------------------------
COOPERS & LYBRAND L.L.P.
Baltimore, Maryland
January 6, 1998
