Crude Oil Rose On Output Damage Fears

Oil prices surged with a record high with $67.49 a barrel Wednesday on the concerns over the possible damages after the huricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico later this week and a decline in US domestic gasoline inventories.

Crude oil for October rose $1.44 to $67.40 a barrel in afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil companies have shut down facilities in the Gulf as precaution against storm damage.