Crude Oil lower on slack U.S. data, waning Syria fears

                                   Crude Oil futures traded lower in the early part of Monday’s Asian session as traders in the region digested some slack U.S. data points that were published last Friday. 

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for October delivery fell 0.80% to USD107.34 per barrel in Asian trading Monday. The October contract settled lower by 0.36% at USD108.21 per barrel on Friday. 

Oil futures were likely to find support at USD106.44 a barrel, the low from September 10 and resistance at USD110.44 a barrel, the high from September 9. Last week, Nymex oil futures lost 2.45%, the biggest weekly decline since the week ended July 26. 

Oil futures were pressured last Friday after after the Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose 0.2% in in August, below expectations for a 0.4% increase. 

A separate report showed that the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to a five month low of 76.8, from a final reading of 82.1 in August. 

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed on a framework for Syria to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile by the middle of 2014. Under the agreement, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be required to declare his country’s stockpiles of chemical weapons by September 20. 

Oil had climbed higher on speculation the U.S. could attack Syria on its own, but now that more diplomatic options are being used, some of the air is coming out of the long oil trade. 

Meanwhile, Spanish oil giant Repsol has told investment bankers it would like to purchase a Canadian or U.S. oil and gas production firm for $5 billion to $10 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer behind the U.S., will spend USD13.07 billion this year on oil and gas exploration and production activity, according to state media. 

Elsewhere, Brent futures for October delivery fell 0.85% to USD110.78 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange. - Investing.com