By Julia Simon
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on Thursday in a seesaw trading session, as investors weighed rising U.S. production against comments from leading Gulf oil producers that an extension to OPEC-led supply cuts was likely.
Brent futures were up 15 cents to $53.08 a barrel were at 11:40 a.m. EDT (1540 GMT). U.S. crude futures were up 6 cents at $50.50 a barrel.
OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signalled that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia, would likely extend their oil output cut beyond June.
At a press conference in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that "there is consensus building but it's not done yet."
James Williams, president of energy consultant WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas, said the minister's bullish statement did not lift prices much because of rising U.S. shale production.
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"You would have thought that that would have reversed yesterday's fall, but it didn't," he said. "We're getting a little bit of price recovery, but it's still not enough to reverse the shale threat."
On Wednesday, crude prices tumbled more than 3.5 percent as U.S. government data showed domestic crude stocks fell less than expected in the latest week and gasoline stocks posted a surprising 1.5-million-barrel build.
"The market sentiment appears to be that the increases in U.S. shale production outweighs the OPEC action and the market is keeping the loss we had yesterday," he said.
U.S. crude oil production rose to 9.25 million barrels per day, official data showed, up almost 10 percent since mid-2016. U.S. inventories of 532 million barrels remained near all-time records reached in March.
Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of French oil and gas giant Total, said on Thursday prices could fall again by the end of the year due to fast growth in U.S. shale production.
"The rebalancing in U.S. crude stocks may have got underway, but concerns about further gasoline builds are rife even as the U.S. summer driving season shifts up a gear," said Stephen Brennock, an analyst with PVM Oil Associates.
In China, signs emerged that refiners were using record crude imports to produce more fuel such as gasoline and diesel than the country can absorb.
China's March gasoline output rose 2.5 percent year-on-year to 11.2 million tons, the highest level since at least April 2014, China's National Bureau of Statistics said, adding to an Asian market that is already well supplied.
(Additional reporting by Libby George in London, Henning Gloystein; in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson and David Gregorio)