Pakistan, Oct. 26 -- Coordinator to the Federal Tax Ombudsman Saif-Ur-Rehman on Sunday stressed the need for modernizing oil refineries and accelerating domestic oil and gas exploration and production to reduce reliance on imports and strengthen the country's energy security.

Talking to a delegation of petroleum dealers here, he said oil refineries should be upgraded along modern scientific and technological lines to enhance their capacity to produce refined petroleum products required by modern industry.

He said efforts should be made to attract local and foreign investment in modern refineries to meet domestic petroleum needs. Accelerating exploration and production could help reduce Pakistan's vulnerability to global supply disruptio...