Oil prices inched up above $51 a barrel today on concerns about US supplies as the peak summer driving season gets into gear, but the gain was seen limited as a stronger dollar lured away some fund money.
US light sweet crude for July delivery was up 9 cents to $51.10 a barrel in Asian trade, extending the previous day's 3-cent gain. Brent crude was down a cent to $50.15 a barrel.
Oil surged on Wednesday after US data showed an unexpected fall in crude inventories last week, thwarting expectations that already robust stocks would build to another six-year high.
The dollar hit a fresh seven-month high against the euro on Thursday after solid US growth figures, extending a month-long rally that has lured back some of the hedge funds whose switch to energy had pushed oil to a record high of $58.28 in early April.
United States consumes just over 9 million barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline, more than a tenth of global oil use, although demand has risen by less than 1 percent from last year, said the government's Energy Information Administration.