Oil is flat in Asia-Pac on Thursday, holding....>

OIL: Oil is flat in Asia-Pac on Thursday, holding gains made over the holiday

period. WTI last trades up $0.08 at $59.72 while Brent is $0.11 higher at

$66.55. Oil is still being supported by explosion at a Libyan pipeline which is

expected to reduce output by up to 100k BPD. The pipeline is reported to need

about a week to repair and production will remain below 1mln BPD from Libya

while the pipeline is out of action. Libya agreed in November to keep production

below 1mln BPD, and up until the explosion had been running 1.08mln BPD.

- As a note the February Brent contract will expire today.

- Markets look ahead to the DoE crude inventory report, API inventory data last

night showed headline crude stocks fell 5.96mln bbls, and stocks at Cushing fell

1.27mln bbls. If DoE data were to confirm the drawdown it would be the 6th

successive week of falling stocks.

- MNI technical analysis sees WTI support at $59.33 - Low Dec 27, resistance is

seen at $60.15 - 200-WMA. The recovery from the dip back towards $55.88 resulted

in a close above $58.99 Tuesday with bulls firmly focused on $60.15-70 where the

bull channel top off June lows is located.