PPL SHARES SUBSCRIPTION OPENS TOMORROW

Islamabad, July 18, 2004


All arrangements have been finalized by Privatisation Commission to open Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) shares from July 19, 2004 Monday to July 22, 2004 (Thursday) to be remained opened for four days during banking hours at the Government's offer price of Rs.55/= per share. The price for PPL IPO will be inclusive of the transfer fee and thus no additional transfer fee would be charged to the subscribers. PC held road shows in all the major cities of the country including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar to inform the general public and the investors regarding the procedure to apply, the worth of PPL and the risks involved. Lead Manger to the transaction is Elixir Securities Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd.

PPL is the fifth company after NBP, OGDCL, SSGC and PIAC whose shares are being offered to the general public through the Capital Market. It is one of the large companies in the oil & gas exploration and production sector and is the owner of the Sui Gas fields.

The government has approved the divestment of PPL shares through an Offer for Sale of 10% (68.58 million) of the company's issued shares to the general public with a green shoe option of additional 5% shares in case of over subscription. Applications are being invited in multiples of 500  shares. In line with the government's objective of 'Privatisation for the People', preference in allocation will be given to the smallest applicants for 500 shares for a total investment of Rs.27, 500/=. Whereas this will directly benefit the small investors it will also help in broadening the shareholder base and lend additional strength to the market. The listing of PPL will also add significantly to market capitalization. It is expected that PPL would become one of the highly traded stocks in the stock markets.

Prior to the subscription period, investors are advised to open their  individual accounts at the Central Depository Company ('CDC') for receiving  the shares early. People opting for physical shares would need at least one  extra month to be able to sell their shares. The respective codes and the names of 18 bankers to the offer are: 01-Allied Bank, 02- BN Amro Bank, 03-Bank Alfalah, 04-Bank AL Habib, 05-Faysal Bank, 06- irst Women Bank, 07-Habib Bank A.G.Zurich, 08-Habib Bank Limited, 09- ahangir Siddiqui Investment Bank, 10-KASB Bank, 11-Muslim Commercial Bank, 12-Metropolitian Bank, 13-National Bank of Pakistan, 14, Prime Commercial Bank, 15-Saudi Pak Commercial Bank, 16-Sonari Bank, 17- tandard Chartered Bank and 18-United Bank Limited.

It has been advised that in case of joint CDC accounts, the applicants can  apply upto a minimum of four applications. Such applicants will be required  to submit separate application for each or joint account holder along with attested copy of NIC of the applicant. The applicants are required to attach  attested copy of new NIC along with application form. In case the applicant  has applied for the new NIC, the attested copy of old NIC with acknowledgment receipt of the application of new NIC must beattached.

The application forms to be acceptable for subscription of the shares of
the company shall either contain rubber stamp of brokers with brokers code or plain applications i.e., without any rubber stamp of the brokers. The application forms can also be downloaded from the website of Privatisation Commission www.privatisation.gov.pk , which are being published and will also be available on July 18, 2004 in the national and regional dailies. Photocopies of these forms are also acceptable.

All the investors are advised to avoid using the application forms for  subscription of shares of PPL, containing the printed name of members of the  Exchange with broker's code.