Oil hits new record at $51

‘‘Fair value is probably not too far from these levels,’’said Emanuele Ravano, head of portfolio management at PIMCO. ‘‘If you look at the longer term factors there is still clearly demand inelasticity and poor infrastructure.’’

High prices have had little effect of growth in oil demand this year, the fastest growth in demand in a generation, while fears regarding potential supply disruptions as oil producers pump at full capacity have fed price gains.

Supply anxiety is building ahead of the northern hemisphere winter, when demand for heating oil surges. Inventories of crude and distillates in the US, the world’s top energy user, are running as much as 4 percent below last year.

‘‘US production has been slow to recover from Hurricane Ivan and people are worried by the low level crude and distillate inventories ahead of winter,’’ said Tetsu Emori, Chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo.

US Consultancy PIRA Energy estimates at least 40 million barrels equivalent of oil and gas will be deferred by Hurricane Ivan.

Nearly 29 per cent or about 480,000 bpd of oil output remains affected three weeks after Hurricane Ivan first hit the region.