The price of benchmark crude oil for September delivery closed at $43.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.05 from Thursday. It was the highest closing price in the 21 years the exchange has sold the contracts, surpassing Wednesday's record high of $42."

"Because world production is near capacity while consumption has increased, the market is reacting to concerns that a disruption in production could have significant consequences, analysts said."

"Oil companies have been announcing significant increases in profits this week as prices continue to rise. Yesterday, ChevronTexaco Corp. reported a profit of $4.1 billion for the quarter, up from $1.6 billion for the same period last year."

Production near capacity, comsumption increased.

Arf