PC INVITES EOI FOR PRIVATISATION OF NATIONAL REFINERY LIMITED

Islamabad, October 23, 2004

The Privatisation Commission ("PC") intends to sell a 51% (33,985,788  shares) equity stake in National Refinery Limited ("NRL" or the "Company"), together with management control, to a qualified strategic investor on an  'as is, where is' basis. A consortium led by Citigroup Global Markets Limited is advising the PC on the sale.

Expressions of Interest ("EOIs") are invited from interested parties to acquire the indicated shareholding and management control in the Company.  A Request for Statement of Qualifications ("RSOQ") will be dispatched to those parties expressing formal interest. The RSOQ will be a package containing pre-qualification requirements and other relevant information including Name of company / group and background information, Audited Financial Statements for the preceding three years and Details of ownership / group structure.

PC has requested the interested parties to submit EOIs in duplicate latest by December 13, 2004 together with a non-refundable processing fee of US$ 2,500/- or Rs. 150,000/- Preliminary information on NRL is also available on the websites: www.nrlpak.com and www.privatisation.gov.pk

For the financial year ended June 30, 2004, NRL's net sales were more than  Rs. 40 billion and profit after tax was Rs. 1,850 million. The company's financial performance has improved consistently over the last seven years.

National Refinery Limited was incorporated in Pakistan on August 19, 1963 as a public limited company.  The refinery complex comprises two lube refineries, a fuel refinery and a Benzene, Toulene and Xylene plant, located in the Korangi Industrial Area within Karachi, Pakistan's largest city. The Company's designed crude oil processing capacity is about 2.7 million tonnes per year (62,050bpsd) with a broad range of petroleum products to cater to  Pakistan's growing demand for petroleum products. NRL is uniquely positioned  in the economic landscape of Pakistan, where it enjoys the unrivalled business niche as the only local refinery to produce lube base oils ("LBO") and the single largest producer of high quality asphalts. Effectively, NRL has an 80% share of the LBO market and 80% share of asphalts. In addition to indigenous blenders, LBO produced is sold to several MNC marketing companies where it serves as a key component in the production of high-end branded lubricants. In addition, the company produces other value added petroleum products, speciality oils and slack waxes. NRL products adhere to stringent international quality specifications and the Company is certified in accordance with OHSAS-18001 and ISO-14001.