Crude oil reaches highest price ever US $83.84 a barrel

Crude oil for October delivery rose US$1.91, or 2.3 % to US$83.84 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

October Futures (last day of the account) touched $83.90, the highest since the contract began trading in 1983. Prices are up 39 % over the last 12 months.

The more-active November contract was up 95 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $81.80 a barrel.

U.S. Minerals Management Service said production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut because of a storm threat reducing output by more than 360,000 barrels, or 28%, of daily oil production .

U.S. crude-oil supplies fell 3.87 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 14, the 10th drop in 11 weeks, the Energy Department reported yesterday.

Pic ? Heavy Ethannol user - first to identify gets a free barrel of oil.