Oil is flat in Asia-Pac trade on Friday; WTI....>

OIL: Oil is flat in Asia-Pac trade on Friday; WTI last up $0.11 at $57.15, Brent

is down $0.01 at $63.30. Both benchmarks are on track for a weekly decline, WTI

last down 0.35% on the week, this would denote the third consecutive drop.

- WTI is holding gains made on Thursday, after dropping to around $56.10 WTI

recovered to highs of $57.20. WTI managed to shrug off an IEA report that

forecasted faster than expected US shale production in 2018. Brent continues to

be supported by the closure of the North Sea Forties pipeline.

- Market is now focused on Baker Hughes US Rig Count at 1800GMT today, the oil

rig count rose by 2 last week to 751, the second successive week of increases

after a downward trend seen since July. 

- MNI technical analysis sees WTI support at $56.48 - Hourly support Dec 14,

resistance is seen at $56.90 - Hourly resistance Dec 13. The aggressive

rejection ahead of the $58.99 Nov high was less than ideal for bulls and

resulted in a dip below the channel base. Bears now look for a close below

$55.88 to confirm a break of key supports and below the 55-DMA to shift focus

back to $52.49-68 where the channel base off June lows and 100-DMA are noted.