[legutierr]

Is there any meaningful difference between "achieve a lower market price for oil" and "alleviate oil supply shortages"? If the SPR is not intended to alleviate oil supply shortages in a time of war, what else would it be intended for?

Think about what has happened in the past nine months. Russia, the country with the most nuclear warheads in the world, invaded its neighbor, where it proceeded to systematically torture and murder unarmed civilians, filling mass graves. Russia simultaneously threatened to invade members of the European Union and the NATO alliance, while threatening to use its nuclear weapons against any country that might dare to assist its victims in defending themselves.

In other words, there is a war in Europe, where the aggressor is one of the world's largest energy producers. How is this not the kind of "true national security emergency" (as you put it) that the SPR is intended to address?