U. S. crude oil futures ended almost 4 percent lower on Friday amid demand worries following a pullback on Wall Street and as the dollar's safe-haven bets rose on fears that a global economic recovery may be far off. Lower oil demand forecasts from OPEC, the International Energy Agency and U. S. Energy Information Administration have caused crude oil to drop.

New York Mercantile Exchange natural gas futures ended lower Friday for a third straight day, pressured by a sharp slide in crude, fairly moderate weather forecasts and concerns about growing supplies.

Kuwait's oil minister said there was no need for further output cuts by OPEC as he does not want to see oil prices go up too fast and a scrapped deal with Dow Chemical would not be revived.

Nigeria's main militant group declared "all-out war" in the heart of Africa's biggest oil and gas industry on Friday after the security forces used gunboats to try to flush its fighters out of the creeks.

AccuWeather. com expects some below normal temperatures in the Northeast and Midwest, key gas consuming regions, over the next week, but highs mostly in the 60s and low-70s Fahrenheit range are not likely to generate much load. The National Weather Service eight- to 14-day outlook on Thursday called for normal or above normal temperatures for most of the nation, with below seasonal readings expected in Florida and the Pacific Northwest.

The rise in Crude oil inventory In U. S. and the expectation of a fall in demand may push the prices southwards during the day. So we do not remain bullish on Crude oil during the day. Natural Gas too likely to trade soft.

Crude prices have breached the upward channel in which it was trading for past 2-3 weeks. Thus Crude can fall back to support levels at 2740-20 levels.

Natural Gas prices also have seen losing the upside moment. Natural gas is expected to trade lower during the day. Thus one can remain short at higher levels during the day targeting 196-194 on lower side.