Oil prices were lower in Asian trade Friday following a rally overnight in the United States, but should remain high amid tight supplies of heating fuel ahead of the winter season, dealers said.
At 11:40 am (0340 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, was down 17 cents to 81.27 US dollars per barrel from its close of 81.44 dollars in late US trades.
The contract had risen 1.47 dollars in New York overnight as traders mulled prospects for US economic growth and assessed the outlook for winter heating oil supplies.
Brent North Sea crude for November delivery was down 34 cents to 78.63 dollars.
"Traders are starting to worry about the heating oil inventory in the US market," said Victor Shum, an analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.
"In the summer, traders worried about the gasoline level. Now, traders are starting to worry about the heating oil level," he said, referring to the expected increase in heating fuel during the Northern Hemisphere winter later this year.
Traders focus on reserves in the United States because the country is the world's biggest energy consumer, ahead of number two China.