The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) skyrocketing demand for oil has become a global issue of marked significance in the fields of international relations and energy economics. One topic receiving attention from experts and policymakers in both disciplines is China’s ongoing development of strategic petroleum stockpiles. That China should and will stockpile oil is certain, but what sort of system China should employ remains unclear. To provide insight into the questions and challenges that face the PRC’s efforts to develop strategic petroleum reserves, this paper will summarize the present status of China’s stockpiling plans, describe the existing stockpiling models employed by Japan, Korea and the United States, and examine the motivations underlying various stockpiling strategies. Finally, I will propose a model based on this paper’s analysis for the affordable and effective completion of China’s strategic oil reserve.