Imports of Oil into the U.S. continue their descent. Plunge is a more correct term. At .7% per month there is simply no better term. The U.S., even given the state of the economy, is easily the luckiest country in the history of the word. If it were not for corn ethanol and Shale Gas things would be FAR worse than 10% headline and 17.5% real unemployment. Still, the decline in Oil imports WILL ABSOLUTELY overwhelm these saviors in the not too distant future... though not quick enough for the "doomers" that have been rooting for Armageddon. These folks will likely have to wait through a long, grinding "play out" of the event. In real life, things just don't fit onto a 3:05 minute song track or 12 second sound bite.
Nat Gas prices AND the lagging performance of the energy equities seem to say that they believe Oil prices come in. Maybe, maybe not. All those folks saying that the world has all this "shut in" Oil production just does not ring true for me (doesn't mean I am correct). I mean, come on... all of a sudden the producers are not going to cheat like crazy on their quotas when the price of Oil is $83 per barrel? NAFC.