REFILE-NYMEX-US crude futures up on Iran worries, Greek hopes

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* Upbeat US jobless claims, housing data support

* Euro rebound on Greece optimism bolsters oil

* RBOB gasoline strength helps lift NYMEX crude

NEW YORK, Feb. 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures ended higher for a second straight day on Thursday on worries about Iran supply disruption and hopes that there may be an agreement next week on a Greece debt bailout.

Crude futures also got a boost from the euro's rebound against the dollar on optimism about Greece, which happened around midday, and from strong gasoline futures, which hit 5-1/2 month highs.

Greece expects to get approval from euro zone finance ministers on Monday to begin a debt swap scheme with private bondholders, moving it closer to averting a chaotic default.

In early trading, prices fell after ratings agency Moody's warned it may cut the credit ratings of 17 global and 114 European financial institutions, in yet another sign that the impact of the euro zone debt crisis was spreading across the global financial system.

Iran has told world powers it wants to resume long-stalled talks with "new initiatives" and France said it might be open to addressing suspicions about Tehran's nuclear program.

But Iran's ambassador to Moscow said Tehran would accept "no preliminary conditions" for progress in any further talks.

FUNDAMENTALS

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for March delivery settled at $102.31 a barrel, gaining 51 cents, the highest close since Jan. 4, when front-month crude ended at $103.22.

* In London, ICE April Brent crude settled at $120.11, rising $1.18, or 0.99 percent. It was the highest settlement for front-month Brent since June 14, when prices ended at $120.16.

* April Brent's premium against its counterpart April U.S. crude widened to $17.47 at the close, from $16.79 on Wednesday. CL-LCO1=R

* NYMEX March RBOB gasoline settled up 4.04 cents, or 1.34 percent, at $3.0471 a gallon, after hitting a session high of $3.0514, the highest since Aug. 31's intraday peak of $3.0573.

* Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, the lowest level since March 2008, the U.S. Labor Department said, suggesting that the recovery in the labor market picking up steam.

* U.S. housing starts rose 1.5 percent last month to an annual rate of 699,000 units, above analysts' forecast for a 675,000-unit pace.

* The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its business activity index for the Mid-atlantic region rose 10.2 this month, from 7.3 in January, as orders and shipments jumped.

* Iran's top oil buyers in Europe are making substantial cuts in supply, months in advance of European Union sanctions, reducing flows to the continent in March by more than a third or more than 300,000 barrels per day, industry sources said.

* ConocoPhillips said planned maintenance was under way at its 120,200 bpd refinery in Rodeo, California, and the overhaul was expected to last five weeks.

MARKETS NEWS

* The euro rose against the U.S. dollar as hopes a Greek bond swap could be within reach lifted investor sentiment and risk tolerance.

* U.S. equities gained, with the Standard & Poor's 500 hitting a nine-month high, fueled by strong U.S. economic data and rising hopes for a deal on Greek's bailout next week.

* Copper fell to a three-week low as delays in Greece's bid to secure a debt bailout package and sluggish Chinese purchases undermined investor sentiment.

UPCOMING EVENTS/DATA

* U.S. consumer prices and real earnings for January, 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), Friday (Reporting By Gene Ramos; Editing by David Gregorio)