July Crude Oil closed up 0.38 at 51.05. This was 0.30 up from the low and 0.38 off the high.

July Heating Oil closed up 1.84 at 160.68. This was 1.68 up from the low and 0.70 off the high.

July RBOB Gasoline finished up 0.84 at 165.62, 0.78 off the high and 1.08 up from the low.

June Natural Gas finished up 0.07 at 3.33, 0.01 off the high and 0.05 up from the low.

 

All things considered, strength in crude oil at the start of the new trading week was not only surprising but impressive as prices temporarily reached up to the highest level since April 20th. Clearly the close proximity to the OPEC meeting on Tuesday has left a bid in energy prices. However we get the sense that the bull camp needs at least some hint of a deepening of production cuts to add to the rather stellar rally off the May lows. Issues holding back oil prices today included word that Chinese oil exports rose by 38% in April compared to year ago levels, and weakness in several international cash crude benchmarks.