Oil prices edged higher Thursday after U.S. data gave hope that the country’s building crude stocks would soon reverse direction and begin falling. The latest weekly data from the Energy Information Administration published Wednesday, showed a surprise increase in crude supplies last week. But there were also indications that a pickup in refining activity should put an end to the stock build in the coming weeks. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.2% to $54.49 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 0.1% at $51.21 a barrel.