* Weak dollar, Wall Street, Texas oil spill boost prices
* Weak demand, mild weather weigh
* Oil expected to average $77.50 in 2010 - Reuters poll
(Recasts, updates throughout)
By Rebekah Kebede
NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose to $75 a
barrel on Monday as support from a weaker dollar, higher U.S.
stocks, and an oil spill in Texas which limited crude oil
deliveries to some U.S. refiners.
Still, oil prices were still near a one-month low of $74 a
barrel after having fallen by almost $10 a barrel over the last
two weeks since hitting a 15-month peak of $83.95 on Jan. 11.
U.S. crude for March delivery <CLc1> settled at $75.26 a
barrel, up 72 cents or nearly 1 percent. On Friday, the
contract fell $1.54 to end at $74.54, the lowest settlement
since Dec. 22, after trading as low as $74.01.
London ICE Brent <LCOc1> settled at $73.69, up 86 cents.
"Crude is having a bounce after being down last week, with
the stock market recovery, Bernanke and the weaker dollar all
in the mix," said Tom Bentz analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity
Futures Inc in New York.
An oil spill in Texas that blocked shipments to several
Gulf Coast refineries and a Louisiana refinery fire on Friday
may have also boosted crude prices, Bentz added.
The U.S. dollar index was weaker after data showing sales
of previously owned U.S. homes fell at the fastest pace on
record in December.[] A weak dollar tends to
support commodities priced in dollars as they become cheaper
for holders of other currencies. []
Wall Street rose after a three-day slide at the end of last
week, as doubts over U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke's second-term confirmation waned. []
A fire at a Louisiana refinery on Friday and an oil spill
in Texas' Sabine-Neche Waterway may have also supported the
energy complex by raising oil product prices. []
The Texas oil spill blocked seaborne supplies to four Texas
refineries representing 6.5 percent of U.S. capacity over the
weekend. []
Texas officials said the clean-up of the 11,000 barrels of
oil was underway. The spill is the biggest in Texas since
1994.
Separately, Mexico closed its Dos Bocas oil terminal on
Sunday due to bad weather, the government said. Almost all of
Mexico's crude oil exports are shipped to refineries on the
Gulf Coast of the United States. []
Despite Monday's higher oil prices, demand for oil remains
relatively weak in the wake of the financial crisis.
Milder weather in the U.S. Northeast, the world's top
heating oil market, will add to that weakness this week.
U.S. heating oil demand will be 2 percent below normal, a
report from the U.S. National Weather Service said.
[]
Oil prices have broken below the 100-day moving average of
around $75.25, a key indicator of market sentiment which
measures the average price of oil over the last three months.
U.S. crude oil is expected to rise to an average of $77.50
a barrel in 2010, a Reuters poll of 29 market analysts showed,
up from $76.40 a barrel in December. []
(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons and Gene Ramos in New
York; David Sheppard and Gwladys Fouche in London; Fayen Wong
in Perth; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
