* Investors await U.S. Fed meeting results on Wednesday
* Iraq says will bolster crude output
* US consumer prices rise, pointing to growing demand
* Market keeps an eye on Syria conflict
* US commercial crude oil stocks seen down last week - poll
By Jeanine Prezioso
NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices ended slightlyhigher on Tuesday in sluggish trading as the market awaited theFederal Reserve's policy statement on Wednesday that is expectedto show whether it will reduce its monetary stimulus.
The program has been largely supportive of oil prices.
Brent oil was off an 11-week high set in the previoussession and U.S. crude oil had dropped from a nine-month high.
Until the Fed's policy decision, oil trading will be largelymuted, said Addison Armstrong, director of market research atTradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.
"I'd expect we are going to see quiet trading between nowand 23 and a half hours from now," he said.
Global financial markets have been on edge since FedChairman Ben Bernanke suggested the central bank would belooking to pull back its stimulus program.
The Fed started its two-day Federal Open Market Committeepolicy meeting on Tuesday. Its three quantitative-easing schemeshave buoyed prices of commodities as they pumped liquidity intothe market and lowered the value of the dollar, makinggreenback-traded commodities cheaper for investors in foreigncurrencies.
Brent crude oil futures for August delivery settled55 cents higher at $106.02 per barrel after trading as high as$106.24. Front-month U.S. crude oil futures finished theday 67 cents higher at $98.44 per barrel, after trading as highas $98.61. U.S. oil prices fell short of $98.74, a nine-monthhigh, reached on Monday.
The market was rangebound on Tuesday, testing resistance andsupport levels after reaching new highs, Armstrong said, havinghit those new highs due to possible U.S. involvement in Syria'scivil war.
"The potential for the U.S. and its allies to begin armingSyrian rebels is what pushed us into this new trading range,"Armstrong said.
The Syrian conflict has become a proxy for warring MiddleEastern factions. Investors fear oil supplydisruptions if other Middle Eastern nations are drawn into theconflict. The region, in total, pumps more than a third of theworld's oil.
A weaker dollar lent some support to oil prices on Tuesdayas did a rise in consumer prices and an upbeat outlook for thehousing sector.
The dollar index, a measure of the dollar's strength againsta basket of currencies, was 0.21 percent lower.
U.S. commercial crude oil stocks likely fell last week dueto lower imports, according to a Reuters poll.
Statoil said some production fields connected tothe Oseberg oil field, which in total produce nearly 120,000barrels per day (bpd), has resumed after an outage on Monday.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it initiated a plannedshutdown at its 600,000 bpd Motiva refinery in Port Arthur,Texas, on Friday.
New York Mercantile Exchange gasoline futures settledat $2.87 per gallon, ending slightly higher from Monday's $2.85settlement.
Iraq plans to ramp up oil production by nearly 45 percent bythe end of 2014 to 4.5 million bpd without input fromKurdistan.
