Emergency Sharing System,the crucial system of IEA(International Energy Agency),is the basis and the legal
origin of all kinds of emergency response system of IEA. IEA’s Emergency Sharing System was originally designed to be a
formal institution with legal binding obligations and has coercive binding power for member states. Although the Second Oil
Crisis didn’t reach the point of fully activating Emergency Sharing System,the crisis caused a great economic loss and revealed
that the System was defective due to its lack of flexibility,and that reform and adaptation of the System is imperative. After
40 years of development,IEA’s Emergency Oil Management System has successfully responded to multi-level oil supply
disruptions flexibly. The change of Emergency Oil Management System displays three characteristics: the informal path of
system adaptation,dispute settlement through political means instead of law and increasing attention of member states to the
effect of market function in crisis response. The design and development of Emergency Sharing System,together with IEA’
s experience in oil crisis management would provide lessons for China to learn in designing and operating its emergency oil
management system.