Oil prices set new record on supply worries

LONDON (AFP) - World oil prices pushed further into uncharted territory, reaching a new record above 51 dollars on worries about supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico and booming demand.
The price of light sweet crude for delivery in November rose Wednesday by 32 cents to 51.41 dollars a barrel in pre-opening electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest in the contract's 21-year history.
US crude oil futures broke through Tuesday's record of 51.29 dollars.
Traders were anxious about ongoing supply problems in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the hurricane season, ahead of weekly estimates of US commercial oil inventories.
Almost 27 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's 1.7 million barrels of daily oil production remains disrupted, according to the US Department of the Interior.
More than 15 million barrels of output has so far been affected, equal to around 2.5 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's annual oil production.