By Yee Kai Pin Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil, struggling to sustain gains above $70 a barrel this month, faces a decline to $59 if support on technical charts fails in the coming days, National Australia Bank Ltd. said. Oil is likely to continue drifting in a sideways pattern as traders seek to gauge the market’s short-term depth, according to Gordon Manning, a Sydney-based technical analyst. Futures, which touched a 10-month high of $75 a barrel Aug. 25, haven’t traded at $59 since mid-July. “It’s trying to find a bit of a base,” Manning said in a telephone interview. “A close below $66 would easily take it lower.” Crude oil yesterday rallied 3 percent, the most in a week, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the recession has probably ended, fanning expectations global demand would rebound. The contract for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange traded at $70.28 a barrel, down 65 cents, at 10:54 a.m. in Singapore on concern that fuel stockpiles in the U.S., the world’s largest energy consumer, are more than adequate to meet demand. Futures have gained 58 percent this year. Manning, who correctly predicted on Sept. 2 oil would have limited scope for gains while staying in an uptrend, said the market’s upside will probably be capped before October futures expire Sept. 22, given that the 21- and 30-day moving averages are slipping. “In a week’s time we could still be where we are,” he said. “I think there’s a reasonable chance of that.” He maintained his long-term call for prices to reach $88 to $100 a barrel. Oil last traded at $88 in October, about halfway between its descent from an all-time high of $147.27 in July last year to the December low of $32.40. “I haven’t written that off by any means,” he said. “I don’t think that there’s been enough damage to warrant that those targets aren’t going to happen. Certainly if we get back up to $75 or $75.50, we’ll be up and running again.”

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