NEW YORK, Oct. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Crude oil futures continued to climb Friday, reaching new record high as decline in the US inventory of heating oil and tight supplies still overshadowed theenergy markets.

    On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil futures for November delivery rose 17 cents to settle at 54.93 dollars a barrel. However, on London's International Petroleum Exchange the November Brent crude-oil futures contract fell 16 cents to close at 49.93 dollars per barrel.

    Traders remained worried about the decline in the US inventory of heating oil. A government report showed Thursday that the stockpiles of heating oil had declined to 50.0 million barrels, or10 percent below year-ago levels. However, the winter was approaching and there were not signs that the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico would resume to normal soon. The Gulf of Mexicohad lost 20 million barrels of oil since Hurricane Ivan hit the crude-rich region early September.

    Analysts said one major concern for the traders remained that the world's excess production capacity could not meet demand in event of large oil disruptions.

    But traders got some reassurance from Alan Greenspan, who said the rise in energy prices was likely to have far less of an impacton the economy than the oil shocks of the 1970s. He predicted thatthe world economy would adjust by boosting energy exploration and production and by increasing fuel efficiency. Enditem