$54.45

From the NY Times:

Crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange reached a new high of $54.45, after settling overnight at $53.64. Brent crude for November broke through the $51 mark for the first time to reach $51.10.

Monday's close was the fifth straight day of record settlements on the Nymex for November crude.

While oil prices are about 80 percent higher than a year ago, they are more than $26 below the peak inflation-adjusted price reached in 1981. Underlying daily jitters is that excess available output is scant, with global production capacity only about 1 percent above the daily supply of 82 million barrels.

"It would be imprudent for the public to expect that all this would be resolved anytime soon. We have to adopt a mentality that we have to live with these prices," said John Vautrain, vice president of Texas-headquartered energy consultants Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.