The cost of a barrel of oil dropped below $57 on Monday as U.S. stocks fell in a roller coaster trading day, USA Today reported. OPEC, meanwhile, has no plans to revise production, the energy minister of the United Arab Emirates said, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

In the early afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.3 percent; the S&P 500 was losing 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq composite 0.6 percent.

After initial gains, the U.S. indexes appear to be following their European counterparts, which during their trading day had followed a "similar up-down trajectory," the newspaper noted.

Germany's DAX ended up losing 2.7 percent.

Among the few winners was PetSmart, whose stocks were up more than 4 percent. The company benefited from Sunday's news that a group of investors led by BC Partners was planning to acquire the pet products retailer for about $8.2 billion.

West Texas Intermediate, the main oil contract traded in New York, was trading at $56.76 on Monday at noon, the CBC noted.

UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said on Monday, however, that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will stand by its decision not to cut output even if oil prices fall as low as $40 a barrel, according to the Canadian channel.

"We are not going to change our minds because the prices went to $60 or to $40," Mazrouei said in Dubai. "We're not targeting a price; the market will stabilize itself."

On Nov. 27, the 12 members of the cartel voted to maintain the current levels of production at 30 million barrels a day, even though markets realized as early as September demand for oil was decreasing.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency has lowered its forecast for next year's global oil demand, The Associated Press said. Global oil demand in 2015 will grow by 230,000 fewer barrels per day than previously expected.

"While demand growth is still expected to gain momentum in 2015 from 2014, the acceleration is now looking more modest than previously foreseen, in line with the ever-more tentative pace of the global economic recovery," AP reported.

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