Oil halted its four-day rally Wednesday amid estimates that U.S. crude stockpiles rose again last last week. Brent for March settlement fell $1.02 to $56.88 a barrel in London at 11:48 a.m. WTI dropped $1.44 to $51.62 in New York.

Inventories increased 3.25 million barrels to 410 million last week, according to a Bloomberg survey of nine analysts. Stockpiles rose 6.1 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Association was said to report, according to accounts on Twitter.

“I am not convinced prices have hit bottom -- it is too soon to say that,” Mike Wittner, Societe Generale’s New York-based global head of oil research, said by e-mail Tuesday. “Rig counts are important because they are a leading indicator of production. But there is a lag of several months before we see an impact on production.”