Oil rose above $62 a barrel on Wednesday, just shy of its record high, as expectations of tight U.S. supplies and disruptions added to concern over the long-term stability of Saudi Arabia after the death of King Fahd. U.S. light sweet crude for September delivery was up 16 cents at $62.05 a barrel in Asian trade, within striking distance of the all-time peak of $62.30 set on Monday, after hitting a high of $62.08. London Brent crude was at $60.83 a barrel, up 21 cents from Tuesday and also near its record high of $60.98. The firmer tone was underpinned by concern about Atlantic hurricanes. As many as 21 named storms and 11 hurricanes are forecast for the 2005 hurricane season, matching a record set in 1933, U.S. government forecasters said. "There seems to be some concern over an unusually active U.S. hurricane season that has already seen seven named storms in June and July, well ahead of when the season is supposed to start in August," said Commonwealth Bank of Australia's David Thurtell. "But I think the concern over the Saudi political situation is a little bit overdone really. It's something that should settle rather quickly. After all, there's no real immediate political change." The reins of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil producer, have been passed on to King Abdullah, ensuring a continuation of the kingdom's oil policy and close alliance with the West. Even so, analysts see him as a transitional ruler and say there are question marks over future successions in the leading member of the OPEC cartel, which may not go as smoothly. The kingdom is pumping about 9.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and has vowed to keep spare production capacity of 1.5 million to 2.0 million bpd to meet any supply shortfalls.