US crude oil: range-bound volatility; buy on dips, sell on rallies

(1) Analysis: API crude oil inventories fell sharply by 11.12 million barrels, far exceeding expectations and marking the largest weekly drop since late January, providing fundamental support for oil prices. However, the Trump administration is considering easing "shadow fleet" sanctions to lower shipping rates, which leads to expectations of eased supply and thus limits price gains, while geopolitical risk premiums remain high. After rising for five consecutive days, oil prices saw a technical pullback and are currently consolidating in the 93 to 96 USD range on the short term, awaiting tonight's official EIA inventory data for confirmation. (2) Key focus: Geopolitical situation, inventory data, US dollar index (3) Resistance: 94.60, 95.30, 96.00 (4) Support: 93.50, 93.00, 92.00