Oil prices rose for a third straight session on Wednesday as a reported fall in U.S. inventories bolstered expectations that the long-oversupplied market was moving toward balance. Brent crude futures were up 17 cents to $50.37 a barrel by 7:05 a.m. ET (1105 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 28 cents to $48.17 a barrel. Both contracts rose to eight-week highs earlier in the session and rallied more than 3 percent on Tuesday. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Futures lost as much as 1 percent in New York, after falling 2.4 percent in the previous two sessions. Gasoline supplies rose by 4.91 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That will be the biggest gain since January if replicated in government data Wednesday. Libya is gradually resuming output at its biggest oil field, people familiar with the matter said. Nationwide crude stockpiles fell by 4.08 million barrels last week, the API said Tuesday, according to people familiar with the data. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, climbed by 2.08 million barrels. An Energy Information Administration report Wednesday is forecast to show supplies slid by 500,000 barrels, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Futures are up more than 11 percent in 2017, having entered a bull market in September. The year’s gains were driven by output cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia, along with geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and pipeline disruptions from the North Sea to Canada and Libya. In 2018, investors will watch whether the price recovery triggers a new flood of U.S. output. “The current highs are unsustainable in the short-to-medium term, with prices likely to head back below $60 once we get past January, but for now the season of goodwill appears to be in full swing,” said analysts led by Michael dei-Michei at consultants JBC Energy GmbH in Vienna. Click Read More below for additional information.