* Brent under pressure, dips under $117
* Concerns over debt crisis in Europe, U.S. build
* IEA to confer with members to decide on more stocks release
By Seng Li Peng
SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - Brent crude dipped below $117 a barrel on Monday as the ongoing debt crises in Europe and the United States kept skittish investors away from risky assets, while the possibility of a second IEA oil release also weighed on sentiment.
Policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic have offered no clear solutions to markets on their respective debt problems, keeping investors risk averse.
Brent
The International Energy Agency, which needs the backing of all 28 members if it is to pour more oil on a volatile crude market, is expected to confer with its member countries by July 23 to decide whether to draw further on emergency oil stocks. Last month, member countries released 60 million barrels, only the third such move in the IEA's history.
The IEA stock release had driven Brent prices down to $102.28 on June 27, but now prices are at a similar level to where the front-month contract was trading when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to agree on a collective output increase on June 8.
"It is too early for the IEA to release stocks for the second time within such a short time," said Serene Lim of ANZ bank. "In the previous release, there were some countries that were not producing or releasing the stipulated amount."
Republican and Democratic senators sought on Sunday to craft a plan that could avert an unprecedented default by the top oil consumer Unites States while making modest cuts in the deficit.
But there were few signs of progress as the Aug. 2 deadline to avoid a default drew dangerously close.
In Europe, 8 of 90 banks failed "stress tests" performed to determine if they could withstand a long recession. Expectations were for up to 15 banks to fall short.
But the better-than-expected results of the stress test failed to dispel the broader gloom sweeping across markets.
Global consumer confidence fell in the second quarter to its lowest level in a year and a half as an uncertain economic outlook, a deepening euro zone debt crisis and rising inflation made people more cautious, a survey showed.
But confidence was lowest in euro zone countries engulfed by the debt crisis with Greece coming bottom of the global ranking, it said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Sunday for private investors to make a major contribution to bailing out Greece, as pressure rose for radical action to cut the country's debt burden.
SYRIA, YEMEN UNREST
With debt issues at the forefront, investors put the persisting political unrest in Syria and Yemen behind them.
Syrian tanks had surrounded a town near the border with Iraq's Sunni heartland on Sunday after thousands of people, emboldened by defections among security forces, took to the streets there denouncing President Bashar al-Assad.
In Yemen, forces backed by armed tribesmen launched an offensive to retake Zinjibar, capital of southern Abyan province, officials said on Sunday, after months of fighting with Islamist militants who seized the city.
Dozens have been killed and some 54,000 civilians have fled Abyan, which has descended into daily bloodshed as the army confronts militants the government says have ties to al Qaeda. (Editing by Himani Sarkar)