Crude oil little changed, eyes on Middle East developments

                 Crude oil futures were little changed in subdued trade on Friday, as the return of some Libyan oil output weighed on prices, although concerns over a possible supply disruption in the Middle East persisted. 

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at USD105.91 a barrel during European morning trade, up 0.04%. 

The November contract settled down 1.32% at USD105.86 per barrel on Thursday. 

Oil futures were likely to find support at USD104.56 a barrel, the low from September 18 and resistance at USD108.14 a barrel, Thursday's high. 

Libya's crude oil production has recovered to 620,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared with its pre-war capacity of 1.6 million bpd, after protesters agreed to reopen major western fields. Output had collapsed to below 200,000 bpd in a stalemate between protesters and the government that lasted over a month. 

The U.N. Security Council was scheduled to decide next week on how it will enforce a U.S.-Russian plan to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. 

Separately, the U.S. and Iran may also meet next week to discuss Tehran's nuclear program, after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sent signals that he is looking for a thaw in relations between the two countries. 

Oil prices rallied on Wednesday after the Fed held back from reducing the USD85 billion pace of its monthly asset purchases. 

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke refused to commit to reducing bond purchases this year, saying the stimulus program was "not on a preset course." 

Bernanke added that he wanted to "try to get confirming evidence" that the economy is showing signs of lasting improvement before scaling back the central bank's bond purchases. 

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for November delivery rose 0.27% to trade at USD109.06 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD3.15 a barrel. - Investing.com