NYMEX-Crude rises for third day on Fed minutes, stock data

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Data on Tuesday and Wednesday showing a sharp drop in U.S. crude stockpiles last week provided further support.

U.S. crude rose 11 cents to $97.37 per barrel by 0000 GMT. It rose to as high as $97.54 a barrel on Wednesday, within striking distance of a three-month high of $97.60 reached on Tuesday. Brent rose 21 cents to $115.12 per barrel.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The Federal Reserve is likely to deliver another round of monetary stimulus "fairly soon" unless the economy improves considerably, minutes from the central bank's August meeting show.

* U.S.

"Brent rose 21 cents to $115.12 per barrel.FUNDAMENTALS* The Federal Reserve is likely to deliver another round of monetary stimulus "fairly soon" unless the economy improves considerably, minutes from the central bank's August meeting show.* U.S"crude oil stockpiles fell sharply last week amid a drop in crude imports, while inventories of refined products were mixed as plant utilization fell, government data showed on Wednesday.

* U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend a summit meeting in Iran next week, defying calls from the United States and Israel to boycott the event, and will raise concerns about Iran's nuclear programme with its leaders.

* U.S.-listed oil, gas and mining companies will be required to reveal payments they make to foreign governments, including those for drilling or exploration licenses, under rules adopted by U.S. regulators that try to reduce bribery and corruption risks.

* Britain, France and the United States discussed on Wednesday how to bolster the Syrian opposition, which is fighting government forces 17 months into a popular uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

MARKETS NEWS:

* The U.S. dollar suffered stinging losses on Wednesday, undermined by the Federal Reserve saying it is willing to deliver more monetary stimulus "fairly soon" unless the economy improves considerably.

* The S&P 500 erased earlier losses to close flat on Wednesday after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting indicated the central bank might be ready for another round of stimulus.

DATA/EVENTS

0230 China HSBC flash manufacturing PMI

0600 Germany Q2 detailed GDP

0658 France Markit Mfg Flash PMI

0728 Germany Markit Mfg Flash PMI

0758 Euro zone Markit Mfg flash PMI

1230 U.S. Jobless claims Weekly

1258 U.S.

Markit Mfg flash PMI

1400 U.S. New home sales (Reporting by Ramya Venugopal; Editing by Ed Davies)

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