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Futures climbed as much as 2.2 percent in New York after rising 5.4 percent the previous three sessions. Crude stockpiles fell by 12.1 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. A meeting of global producers later this month in Algiers will come too early for Iran to discuss freezing output, according to an official from the nation's state oil company.

Oil rallied in August partly on speculation that members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia would agree on measures to stabilize the market. While Iran continues to keep investors guessing whether it will join a potential freeze accord, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Monday he's optimistic producers will agree to cooperate. The dollar, which weakened in three of the past four days, is also boosting the appeal of oil as an investment.

A combination of a bullish prediction for a very big draw in stockpiles and a softer dollar is driving prices higher today,†said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at bank SEB AB in Oslo. Oil prices will still have to wait in the current range for a while longer before they can run much higher because inventories are still very high.â€

U.S. Stockpiles

West Texas Intermediate for October delivery rose as much as 99 cents to $46.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $46.32 as of 8:30 a.m. Central time. The contract gained 67 cents to $45.50 Wednesday. Total volume traded Thursday was about 2 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for November settlement climbed as much as 1.9 percent to $48.89 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, having advanced 1.5 percent on Wednesday. The global benchmark crude traded at a $1.77 premium to WTI for November delivery.

For a story on four scenarios for nations attending the Algiers talks, click here.

Inventory data published Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration is forecast to show an expansion of 905,000 barrels a day, according to a Bloomberg survey. If the government data were to show the same decrease as reported by the API, that would be the largest stock draw since 1999, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. U.S. gasoline stockpiles slid by 2.34 million barrels last week, the API said, according to people familiar with the figures.

Iran will be ready to decide on capping production once output reaches levels attaine...