Still, the market remained poised for upward movement, with Opec powerhouse Saudi Arabia and other members of the oil-producing organization seemingly ready to pay more attention to agreed-on production constraints.

Expectations of cold weather also kept a relatively high floor under prices.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery fell 33 cents to $56.64 by midday in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery dipped 41 cents to $55.98 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Oil and natural gas prices jumped Tuesday on expectations of more cold weather in the United States and renewed concerns about Opec production cuts. Oil traded as high as $57.05 before falling back to settle at $56.97 a barrel, a gain of $2.96.

Colder-than-normal temperatures are expected through mid-February in the U.S. Northeast, which is responsible for 80 percent of the country's heating oil consumption.

Heating oil was down almost a cent at $1.6302 a gallon. Natural gas, meanwhile, dropped 7.9 cents to $7.661 per 1,000 cubic feet. A day earlier, it had soared more than 80 cents, or 11.6 percent, on forecasts that predict temperatures will dip below freezing in the U.S. Midwest, the heart of the natural gas market.