SINGAPORE ? Oil declined in Asian trade Tuesday amid fading euphoria over better-than-expected US jobs data, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, was off 32 cents to $81.55 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for April delivery eased 23 cents to $80.24.

Oil struggled Monday to extend last week's rally, which was driven by encouraging numbers from the US Labor Department showing a smaller-than-expected fall in non-farm payrolls of 36,000 in February.

Analysts were predicting about 67,000 job losses for last month.

"There was a lack of significant fresh news to drive the oil price strongly in either direction," analysts from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a report.

Analyst Mike Fitzpatrick at MF Global noted that actual supply and demand data for oil remained weak.

"All this points to the possibility of corrective selling," he added.

Fitzpatrick also said that the Greece debt crisis continued to haunt the market.

"Perhaps the sight of Greek Prime Minister (George) Papandreou going hat in hand to European capitals seeking help has made investors uneasy," he said.

The oil market, meanwhile, weighed weekend comments from Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, who said that his key crude-producing nation would maintain its moderate policies.

"The kingdom has continued to be moderate in its approach to the global oil situation," Abdullah said in his annual address to the Shura Council, the country's consultative assembly.

The statement from the Saudi king came amid rising concern that US-led sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear program could disrupt global oil markets.

With Saudi production hovering at around nine million barrels a day, Saudi Arabia is by far the OPEC cartel's largest single oil supplier and the key swing producer, adding or reducing output to moderate sharp swings in the market.