Development of China’s strategic oil reserve system depends largely on the mindset of its decision makers.Conservative, security-driven thinking will lead to higher costs for the government and more stress on the global oil market. A more open-minded approach, by contrast, could allow an efficient and comparatively inexpensive build of reserves.This article will examine the strategic petroleum reserve strategies used by the US, Japan, and South Korea, in an effort to determine the optimum course for development of China’s reserves.BackgroundChina’s demand for oil has become a global political and economic issue. China imported 2.9 million b/d of crude oil in 2006 and rou...