May Crude Oil closed up 0.03 at 53.14. This was 0.32 up from the low and 0.25 off the high.

May Heating Oil closed down 0.26 at 164.94. This was 0.53 up from the low and 0.89 off the high.

May RBOB Gasoline finished down 0.64 at 173.53, 0.96 off the high and 1.35 up from the low.

May Natural Gas finished up 0.05 at 3.23, 0.01 off the high and 0.08 up from the low.

While the petroleum complex showed what appeared to be exhausted price action to end the trading week, the trade probably saw a major supportive development going forward from the news that Chinese crude oil imports shattered their old record high. The further development that the largest supplier of that float to China was from the US could mean that the brunt of the US oversupply condition might be addressed with solid demand. The bear camp could argue that prices lost momentum in the last three trading sessions of the week could also suggest that geopolitical tensions offered little fresh headline fodder. The weekly natural gas storage report showed an injection of 10 bcf. Total storage stands at 2061 bcf or 14.6% above the 5 year average. Over the last four weeks natural gas storage has declined 181 bcf.