Crude oil again relatively flat in Asia, last...>

OIL: Crude oil again relatively flat in Asia, last at $52.03 per barrel taking a

small dip of $0.15 when Japanese Imports came in lower.

- On the overnight crude oil dropped around $0.64 when inventories data came in

showing a drop of 5.73mln barrels to 456.5 barrels. 

- Barclays said : "Hurricanes also took their toll on oil production, which was

down over 1mb/d to 8.4mb/d. Despite this, the market remains fixated on events

in Iraq. Reports suggest that production disruptions are building, with

inventories at the Ceyhan port being drawn down quickly. Prices were also

supported by continued chatter about OPEC leaning towards extending production

cuts by nine months.

- MNI Technical Analysis sees support at $51.92 - Low Oct 18 and resistance at

$52.39 - Hourly resistance Oct 19. Topside hesitation ahead of the $52.65-53.11

region is less than ideal for bulls who need a close above to shift focus to

$53.73-55.03 where the bull channel top ($54.70) is located. Bears continue to

look for a close below the 21-DMA to ease bullish pressure and shift immediate

focus back to $49.44-50.13 where the 55-DMA is noted.