Its about effectiveness not efficiency.I would have thought...

Its about effectiveness not efficiency.

I would have thought better defending remotely, cheaper, too expensive in the cities, easy to protect remotely.

Cheaper if ships could take iron ore to China and oil back. I know they would need to be special ships but the harbours and shipping lanes are there.

Storage is key and transportation costs minimal depending on the time frame. Whats the life of oil??

Refinery in WA or near north hemisphere centre? Depends on how much cheap oil can be stored for how long I guess.

Airport nearby would help