Crude oil prices rose nearly 2 dollars a barrel Tuesday, the biggest gains in eight weeks, as traders anticipated that growing gasoline demand would erode US inventories.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil future for May delivery rose 1.92 dollars to close at 52.29 dollars per barrel. On London's International Petroleum Exchange, the Brent crude futures for June delivery climbed 2.16 dollars to 52.94 dollars a barrel.

US gasoline inventories had declined in five of the last six weeks, leaving stockpiles at 213.1 million barrels in the week ending April 8. Meanwhile, US refineries were running closer to capacity because of rising demand. No refinery had been built in the country in almost three decades.

Analysts worried that rising gasoline demand would further strain the ability of refineries to make enough of the fuel during the summer consumption peak. "Gasoline inventories are in decent shape, but it wouldn't take long for the excess to disappear as we go into peak demand this summer," a New York-based oil broker said.

Analysts expected US gasoline supplies to fell by 250,000 barrels last week. With the stockpiles declining, pump prices for regular gasoline averaged 2.244 dollars a gallon yesterday, or 24 percent higher than a year ago.