Summary China's customs data showed that imports rose 0.8 percent in April.
PABLO GORONDI (A.P) The price of oil declined Thursday but remained above $100 a barrel after China s monthly trade data showed subdued imports by the world s largest crude consumer.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark U.S. crude for June delivery was down 59 cents at $100.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On Wednesday, the Nymex contract added $1.27 after a surprise decline of 1.8 million barrels in U.S. crude stockpiles.
Brent crude, a benchmark for international varieties of oil, was down 48 cents to $107.65 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
China s customs data showed that imports rose 0.8 percent in April, improving from the previous month s 11.3 percent decline but still subdued.
Exports rose 0.9 percent, a recovery from March s 6.6 percent fall. Weak imports reflect slowing Chinese economic growth, which declined to 7.4 percent in the first quarter of year.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian insurgents said they would go ahead with a Sunday referendum on autonomy and another twist in Libya s efforts to increase oil exports kept prices from falling further.
Meanwhile, analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt noted rebels in Libya "have broken off talks on the opening of the country s two biggest oil terminals and have additionally threatened to reoccupy the two already opened oil terminals."
Libya s exports have dropped to less than 300,000 barrels a day compared to around 1.4 million barrels a year ago.
A fall in the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits also helped sustain prices, seen as a sign that the job market is slowly improving.
In other energy futures trading on Nymex:
Wholesale gasoline lost 0.49 cent to $2.9133 a gallon.
Heating oil was down 1.3 cents to $2.9145 a gallon
Natural gas slipped 1.9 cents to $4.721 per 1,000 cubic feet.
