New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, rose 11 cents to USD 40.07 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for April delivery fell 23 cents to 42.27.

"The markets are sort of still in search of indicators for demand and whether OPEC cuts are going to hold in the long run and support prices," said Jason Feer, Asia Pacific vice-president for energy market analysts Argus Media Ltd.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps about 40 per cent of the world's oil, announced output cuts late last year of more than four million barrels per day in a bid to reverse tumbling prices and protect revenues.

Barclays Capital said in a report Tuesday that the oil market was currently facing "something of a hiatus," marked by macroeconomic uncertainty and lack of any definitive direction in the flow of market data.