HAFEEZ TO INAUGURATE FORMAL TRADING OF OGDCL SHARES ON MONDAY

Islamabad, January 17, 2004

The Federal Minister for Privatisation & Investment Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh will inaugurate the formal trading of OGDCL shares after formal listing at Islamabad Stock Exchange, Fazal-e-Haq Road Islamabad on January 19, 2004 (Monday) at 0915 hrs.

The historic success of the Initial Public Offer (IPO) of 2. 5 % shares of OGDCL (107.5 million shares) received overwhelming response from the general public and institutional investors heavily over subscribed. The Government exercised the green shoe option for additional offer of 2.5 % shares in OGDCL.

The Offer for Sale of 2.5% shares of OGDCL by the government has been a tremendous success. Due to heavy support from both, individual as well as institutional investors, the offer has been oversubscribed by more than seven times attracting an amount of more than Rs. 28.12 billion. The amount of subscription received has no parallel in the history of the local stock market. The offer size as well as the subscription received has made the transaction the largest and most successful pubic offering to date.

The listing of OGDCL shares has increased market capitalization by more than Rs. 170 billion, which translates to about US$ 3 billion. In terms of volume, it has been the highest traded stock during the last few sessions, which shows the interest, generated by the share in the market. The OGDCL share is sure to make a place in the KSE-100 Index in its next revision and will continue to be one of the most heavily traded stocks in the market keeping in view the float available with common investors.

OGDCL is a big step towards the deepening and roadening of the stock markets and the heavy response from investors gave a clear indication of the excess liquidity available. An encouraging factor for the markets in this instance was the participation of all categories of individual investors, including housewives and pensioners, a large proportion of them were first time investors for whom this investment was a learning experience and many of these investors might continue to invest in the stock market increasing the investor base significantly.

The listing and offer for sale of OGDCL has been a landmark transaction for the capital markets, the government, the Privatisation Commission, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources as well as the Company OGDCL, itself. The investor response has clearly indicated the market appetite for good investment opportunities and bodes well for future offers for sale of high performance companies.