NYMEX-US oil rises on surprise draw in stockpiles

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U.S. oil rose 83 cents to $101.42 by 0019 GMT, after rising nearly a dollar to $101.57. Front-month Brent crude settled at $110.66 a barrel, after touching a session high of $112.20.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Crude stockpiles fell by 4.8 million barrels in the week to Jan. 13, contrary to analysts' expectations for a 2.8-million-barrel build, according to weekly inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute released on Wednesday.

* The Obama administration rejected the Keystone oil pipeline on Wednesday, likely pushing any revival of the project past November's elections.

* Greece meets its private creditors on Thursday for a second day of bargaining on a crucial bond swap deal, with time running out for reaching a compromise to avoid a default and exit from the euro zone.

* The Obama administration, still grappling with how to punish a nuclear-ambitious Iran, is focusing on making countries cut purchases of Iranian oil, rather than allowing them to avoid U.S. sanctions simply by winning price cuts.

* The International Monetary Fund is seeking to more than double its war chest by raising $600 billion in new resources to help countries deal with the fallout of the euro zone debt crisis, but the United States and other countries are throwing up roadblocks.

MARKETS NEWS

* Many commodities fell or posted only modest gains on Wednesday, as concerns about Europe's financial woes ahead of Greek debt-restructuring talks overshadowed data indicating U.S.

"Front-month Brent crude settled at $110.66 a barrel, after touching a session high of $112.20.FUNDAMENTALS* Crude stockpiles fell by 4.8 million barrels in the week to Jan"economic strength.

* The euro and commodity currencies got off to a positive start in Asia on Thursday, following solid gains overnight after news the IMF wanted to bolster its war chest to help tackle the euro zone debt crisis shored up risk sentiment.

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Thursday:

- 1600 U.S. EIA petroleum stocks Weekly

(Reporting by Manash Goswami)

Energy