By Alison Sider, Sarah McFarlane and Jenny W. Hsu 

Oil prices resumed their rise Thursday, building on gains in the previous session after U.S. data made traders and investors hopeful that the country's record-high crude stocks may soon start falling.

Crude prices inched above $50 a barrel, stoked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration's data showing a larger-than-expected decline in gasoline and distillate supplies as well as refiners processing oil at a higher rate -- signs of strong demand for fuel.

U.S. crude futures rose 53 cents, or 1.07%, to $50.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 29 cents, or 0.55%, to $52.71 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Crude-oil stockpiles in the U.S. rose a fewer-than-expected 900,000 barrels last week by the government's count, but analysts said there were signals that the relentless weekly increases may soon be coming to an end.

"The big falls in gasoline inventories, coming near the end of the refinery-maintenance season, suggest crude-oil inventories are on the cusp of declining," said ANZ Research.

Prices were also propelled on Wednesday by declining U.S. oil imports and rising exports.

"The trending combination of higher crude runs and lower net crude imports should result in U.S. crude stocks flattening and then starting to decline by the end of April," said Société Générale.

Oil prices have faced selling pressure in recent weeks as rising crude production in the U.S. threatens to undermine production cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. But prices have been lifted somewhat by supply disruptions in Libya, and the bullish data added to the momentum, said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.

The market continues to watch whether OPEC's recent production cuts will be extended beyond the initial six-month term when the cartel meets to review the arrangement at the end of May. It also remains to be seen to what degree the output cuts are reducing bloated global stocks

"With plenty of supportive OPEC chatter on rolling over the oil-production restrictions, and a production accord between Russia and Iran, the consensus view that the physical market should tighten in the latter half of the year is building," said Stuart Ive, a client manager at the Wellington-based OM Financial.

Gasoline futures rose 1.2 cents, or 0.72%, to $1.6840 a gallon. Diesel futures rose 1.1 cents, or 0.71%, to $1.5535 a gallon.

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com, Sarah McFarlane at sarah.mcfarlane@wsj.com and Jenny W. Hsu at jenny.hsu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 30, 2017 11:02 ET (15:02 GMT)