Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil futures rose to a record in New York after OPEC President Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the group may not be able to increase production fast enough to lower prices, which have surged 35 percent in the past year.

Purnomo told reporters an expected output increase from Saudi Arabia cannot be done "immediately.'' Oil pared its gains after a Saudi Arabian official later said the country can boost production by 500,000 barrels a day to 10 million barrels a day immediately, and more if needed. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pumps more than a third of the world's oil.

"There is no shortage of possible supply disruptions,'' said John Kilduff, senior vice president of energy risk management at Fimat USA Inc. in New York. "OPEC's president is saying that they have no additional capacity, which adds to the nervousness, especially given the strong demand we're seeing.''

Crude oil for September delivery was up 23 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $44.05 a barrel at 10:19 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil reached $44.24 a barrel in electronic trading, the highest price since futures began trading in New York in 1983. Prices were 36 percent higher than a year earlier.

In London, the September Brent crude oil futures contract was up 38 cents, or 1 percent, at $40.35 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange. Brent reached $40.45 a barrel, the highest price for a most-active oil contract since October 10, 1990 when Iraqi forces occupied Kuwait.

Oil has risen on concern about attacks on Iraq pipelines and potential disruptions to exports from Russia and OPEC members who are pumping near capacity. Oil shipments on supertankers from the Persian Gulf rose to a three-month high in July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

"If prices continue to rise what can OPEC do? Prices are crazy,'' OPEC's Purnomo said in Jakarta. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi yesterday "said they can increase supplies, but it cannot be done immediately. It needs time,'' Purnomo said.

OPEC agreed last month to go ahead with a plan to raise the group's output ceiling by 500,000 barrels a day to 26 million barrels a day starting on Aug. 1.

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