Oil prices early in the Wednesday session pulled back from recent gains as concerns about volatility linger in the marketplace for crude.
The price for Brent, the global benchmark, lost nearly 3 percent from the previous session to trade near $56.20 per barrel for the March contract. Wednesday morning's price for Brent is still more than 3 percent higher than the start of the week.
The short-term recovery may be a response to the slowdown in the exploration and production side of the energy sector. Rig counts in North Dakota, the No. 2 oil producer in the United States, are off from their historic peak and oil services company Baker Hughes found the trend established globally, with Canada suffering the most in terms of percent declines in last week's rig count.
Oil prices since June have shed about half of their value as the market swings to the supply side on increased U.S. production. A forecast Tuesday from IHS said the oil boom may turn to bust because lower oil prices are curbing production.
"U.S. oil production has been the main engine of global supply growth in recent years," IHS Energy Vice President Jim Burkhard said in a statement. "But the reality of lower oil prices and less spending on new wells will affect production as 2015 progresses."
The price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was off 2 percent from Tuesday's close to sell for around $50.50 early in the trading day. IHS based its report on WTI trading below the $60 threshold.
The low price of oil is curbing spending plans from oil companies and prompting some in secondary industries like steel to cut staff.
Labor talks collapsed between the United Steelworkers union, representing refinery workers, and Shell, representing the industry, though U.S. operations remain in full swing.
