Oil prices edged down on Wednesday in Asian trading as the market waits to see how Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members carry through on planned supply cuts in the new year.
International Brent crude futures were trading down 0.2 percent at $55.96 a barrel at 11:12 am Beijing time, after closing the previous session up $0.93 cents.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices were down $0.07 at $53.83 per barrel, after settling up $0.88 at $53.90 a barrel in the previous session.
Trading is expected to remain thin this week ahead of the New Year holiday.
The market is taking a wait-and-see approach on the official start of the landmark deal reached by OPEC and several non-OPEC members to reduce their output. The deal is set to kick in on January 1.
OPEC and non-OPEC producers are expected to lower production by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), with Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer, agreeing to bear the lion's share of the cuts.
"There are mixed expectations of the cuts. Trading is thin so the first two weeks of January would be critical to watch," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at Sydney's CMC Markets.
"If there's any misstep or any indication of disagreement to (the deal), we would see crude prices dropping," he said.
In a sign that the world's oil major producers may abide by their agreement, OPEC member Venezuela said it will cut 95,000 bpd of oil production in 2017.
