Oil holds above $81 on winter stocks worries

Oil held above $81 a barrel on Friday, clinging to its first gains in five days after data showing unexpectedly low distillate and natural gas stocks in the United States stirred concern about peak winter supplies.
U.S. crude fell 19 cents to $81.25 a barrel by 0616 GMT after rallying $1.50 on Thursday, its first rise in a week. Brent crude lost 34 cents to $78.63 a barrel.
Thursday's gains were fuelled by data showing U.S. natural gas stocks rose less than expected last week, expanding by 57 billion cubic feet (bcf) instead of the 67 bcf expected by analysts, the Energy Information Administration said.
That followed figures on Wednesday that showed distillate supplies, including heating oil, dropped by 1.2 million barrels last week, about 9 percent below last year's average.
Taken together, the data painted a picture of tighter heating fuel supplies ahead of winter, although forecasters said separately that they expected another warmer-than-average winter this year.
A resumption in the dollar's decline on Thursday, snapping a three-day rally, also aided oil. The dollar steadied just above a record-low against the euro on Friday, as dealers awaited September U.S. payrolls data, expected to keep the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates later this month.
"Crude prices might gain further as the weaker dollar could encourage funds to use oil as a hedge," said Koo Ja-kwon, crude analyst at Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC).
Oil has traded around the $80-mark for about three weeks despite OPEC's agreement on September 11 to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from November 1.
ConocoPhillips and Valero Energy Corp said on Thursday their Los Angeles-area refineries were expected to resume normal operations during the week after being shut down Wednesday morning by a power outage.
Both Valero's 135,000-bpd refinery and Conoco's 139,000-bpd plant were working on Thursday through processes to restart from cold shutdowns