By Margot Habiby Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fluctuated as the dollar rebounded against the euro and a weekend tanker collision shut the Sabine Neches Waterway, the Texas ship channel serving four refineries. Oil touched $74.06 a barrel, near a one-month low of $74.01, as the dollar strengthened as much as 0.1 percent against the euro, curbing the appeal of commodities as an alternate investment. The Sabine Waterway, which serves refineries with 6.5 percent of U.S. capacity, will reopen by week’s end, the Coast Guard said. “The dollar was weaker earlier, and you also have the story about the closure of the Sabine Waterway,” said Gene McGillian, an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “The market fell a lot last week and may be catching its breath.” Crude for March delivery rose 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $74.78 a barrel at 10:38 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures have fallen 11 percent in the past two weeks from a 14-month high of $83.95 a barrel. Oil has risen 61 percent in the past year. The dollar was little changed against the euro at $1.4156 at 10:38 a.m. in New York, compared with $1.439 on Jan. 22. Earlier, the U.S. currency fell as much as 0.4 percent. Reopening the Sabine waterway by the end of the week would be “a conservative estimate,” Lionel Bryant, chief warrant officer for the U.S. Coast Guard in Port Arthur, Texas, said in a telephone interview today. Fifteen skimming vessels are working to recover about 11,000 barrels of oil that spilled after a towing craft slammed into the 807-foot Eagle Otome on Jan. 23, according to a statement from the agency yesterday. Exxon Refinery The tanker was bound for Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Beaumont refinery when the collision happened, Guard Commander John Lovejoy said in a telephone interview yesterday. The vessel is owned by AET Tankers of Malaysia, the Coast Guard said. Exxon’s Beaumont plant is one of four refineries located near the waterway. The other three are operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Motiva Enterprises, Valero Energy Corp. and Total SA. The four plants have a combined processing capacity of 1.15 million barrels of oil a day. “The longer it takes to clean it up and the longer it takes for refineries to come back to par, the more bullish it is,” said Carl Larry, president of Oil Outlooks & Opinions LLC in Houston. “It’s kind of a wait-and-see here.” Oil prices will rise to $95 a barrel by the end of the year as demand recovers, Morgan Stanley forecast in a report today by commodities analyst Hussein Allidina. Declining crude inventories and the improving economy will boost prices this year and take them to an average $100 a barrel in 2011. Brent oil for March settlement increased 40 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $73.23 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. To contact the reporter on this story: Margot Habiby in Dallas at mhabiby@bloomberg.net.

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