Crude-oil futures rose to as high as $62.10 a barrel early Thursday, setting a new record high, after severe weather shut down several oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, intensifying anxiety over whether U.S. inventories are adequate in the short run to meet strong demand. Tropical Storm Cindy forced the shut-in of 12.7% of daily oil production, representing 190,506 barrels, in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said Wednesday. "The market would be able to justify the lost production if there was hope we could get right back to normal, but with Tropical Storm Dennis on the radar, we won't get back to normal," said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Alaron Trading. Tropical Storm Dennis, which is currently churning away in the Caribbean, has the potential to become "the first significantly dangerous storm of the season," John Kilduff, an analyst at Fimat USA said in a note to clients. They're up around 70% from a year ago and up 44% year to date. The "frequency of these storms" has frightened the market, Flynn said, adding that "we've never had this many this early in the season." This "could indicate that we're going to have a very active hurricane season that could last throughout the summer," Flynn said. Petroleum-product prices also gained ground, with the August contracts ending in record territory. August heating oil climbed 6.24 cents, or 3.6%, to close at $1.7948 a gallon. August unleaded gas tacked on 10.97 cents, or 6.5%, to end at $1.7915 a gallon. The storm path for Dennis as projected by forecasters will take it over some key oil and natural-gas fields in the coastal waters off Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, according to Kilduff. Traders still remember the impact of Hurricane Ivan late last year, which ultimately gave rise to the shut-in of a total of 43.8 million barrels of oil production -- fully 7.25% of the region's yearly production, according to Agbeli Ameko, managing partner at First Enercast Financial.