Crude futures rose for a third consecutive day yesterday, hitting 2016 highs above $50 (£34) a barrel on supply outages led by the sabotage of oil facilities in Nigeria, before paring gains as glut concerns resurfaced after US data showed a surprise build in gasoline supplies.

US crude stocks fell for the third consecutive week to June 3, sliding by 3.2 million barrels versus analysts’ expectations for a 2.7 million-barrel drawdown, government data showed.

But gasoline stockpiles grew by one million barrels and distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 1.8 million barrels, versus forecasts of drawdowns.

This indicates a sentiment that gasoline demand will weaken more than expected or that the crude glut will be reflected by a gasoline glut, said Troy Vincent, crude oil analyst for New York-headquartered energy data provider ClipperData.

Brent crude was up 76 cents at $52.20 a barrel by 11.58am, after hitting $52.54 earlier in the session, its highest since October. US crude futures were up 65 cents at $51.01 a barrel, rallying earlier to $51.27, the highest level since July.

“The gasoline build was a big surprise, specially since the driving season is underway,” said Tariq Zahir, managing partner at Tyche Capital Advisers in New York which specialises in long-dated spread trades in US crude futures.

“While we are witnessing a momentum trade in spot crude helped by the weakness in the dollar, the forward curve remains in contango with the build in the product markets. This, in our opinion, should limit the gains in spot prices,” Zahir said.

Oil hit the year’s highs after the Niger Delta Avengers militant group said it had blown up a Chevron oil well in Nigeria, rejecting peace talks with the government.