Crude oil futures surged to a new record price in New York on Thursday, closing at 67.49 dollars a barrel on concerns of supply shortage, the highest closing point since it was first traded in 1983.

October Brent crude oil futures fell 36 cents to 65.66 dollars a barrel on London's International Petroleum Exchange.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, price of light sweet crude for October delivery remained a concern after reaching a record 68 dollars per barrel in after-hours trading late Wednesday and moving higher in afternoon trading, which feeds Wall Street worries of an economic slowdown. The market has been tense in the wake of news Wednesday of a drawdown in US gasoline reserves, and the situation has been exacerbated by concerns over storms in the Gulf of Mexico. But worries eased somewhat about the path of a storm expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico.

The US National Hurricane Center said the storm could turn to the north and eventually strike Panhandle in Florida early next week -- a path that would keep it away from the heart of the oil and gas producing regions of the Gulf.

"With refinery operating rates contracting a bit," Mike Fitzpatrick at Fimat USA said, "gasoline stocks may continue to tighten heading into the fall, particularly if subsequent hurricanes cause production to be shut-in."

"Gasoline continues to take the market higher and the overall technical picture suggests that at some stage we are going to hit 70 dollars a barrel," warned Orin Middleton, an energy analyst at Barclays Capital in London.

IMF managing director Rodrigo de Rato warned that high oil prices posed a significant risk to global economic expansion.

Source: Xinhua