Crude oil rose for a second day on speculation that falling temperatures in the U.S. may boost heating demand in the world's largest energy consumer and as Russian supplies to Poland and Germany were curtailed.

Up to six inches of snow may fall today in parts of the U.S. Northeast, where four-fifths of the country's heating oil is burned, according to forecasting service Accuweather.com. Russian crude oil deliveries to Poland and Germany along a million barrel- a-day pipeline were halted following a dispute between Russia and Belarus, according to the Polish pipeline operator.

``The weather is the main driver of the market now,'' said Gerrit Zambo, an oil trader at BayernLB in Munich. ``Even small signs of cooler temperatures can bring prices back up toward the $60 a barrel region.''

Crude oil for February delivery rose as much as $1.41, or 2.5 percent, to $57.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $57.46 at 2:41 p.m. London time. Brent crude oil gained $1.35 to $56.99 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures exchange.

Polish pipeline operator PERN Przyjazn SA and Grupa Lotos SA, Poland's second-largest refiner, said supplies via the Druzhba pipeline that transports Russian crude through Belarus were cut off last night. The Polish segment of the pipeline carries about 50 million tons of oil a year, including 27 million tons to German refiners.

U.S. Weather

Temperatures may drop below normal in the western U.S. this week and cooler weather will spread across most of the country until Jan. 20, according to the National Weather Service.

New York-traded crude rose 72 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $56.31 a barrel on Jan. 5 after dropping almost 9 percent the previous two sessions. Prices fell last week amid mild weather in the U.S. Northeast and after U.S. fuel inventories climbed more than expected.

Last week's price decline was the biggest since April 2005. The price of oil has plunged about 27 percent from the record $78.40 a barrel reached July 14 after Israeli forces invaded Lebanon to fight Hezbollah militants.

``The next move is likely to be back up again,'' said Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. ``There could be rising hysteria in OPEC because a number of the countries like Iran and Venezuela have been spending like oil was going to stay at $70 a barrel.''

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels a day in November, citing slower-than-forecast demand growth and rising global stockpiles. Members agreed in December to cut another 500,000 barrels a day starting Feb. 1.