I know this section is most often reserved for personal failure lessons learned, but it seems to be happening in real time in front of us.
The SPR apparently was never thought to be used because as we approach a record low 25% capacity there are concerns that the weak salt rocks it is stored in may shift or collapse shutting off easy access to the reserves and create other problems as well.
During COVID we had a a unique opportunity to refill the entire thing for practically free but our Congress (like so often in the past) completely failed us. Now we are at a 40 year low and dropping.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2026/08/15/strategic-petroleum-reserve-spr-oil-iran-war-caverns.html