"""How does this square with the report today that Chinese exports grew 32% in the first 6 months.... Isnt that a tremendous growth engine?"
actually it does square.
1. domestic demand is slowing, so excess is exported
2. export growth is faster than import growth indication of a slowing economy.
3. Chinese oil import growth is something like in the high single digits this year versus 40% last year.
all the $100 barrel oil bulls are gonna lose big if this story is true.
I hope it is true so that all the speculators who spam this forum with disinfo such as "150 per barrel by next summer" (which initially riles all the "Peak Oil" tin foilers and then spreads to normal people...) - de facto market manipulation - get their asses burned.
peak oil, depletion rates, infrastructure issues,refinery issues, quality of crude are a few of the other issues that will keep oil suprisingly high.