U. S. crude oil futures ended down more than 4 percent on Friday as weak consumer confidence data sparked concerns over oil demand and worries about the strength of the economic recovery. NYMEX natural gas futures settled lower on Friday, undermined by a sharp slide in crude, record high inventories and sagging industrial demand.

Crude oil speculators on the New York Mercantile Exchange decreased their net long positions in the week to Aug. 11, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday. Speculators lowered net long positions to 27,077 positions in the week, from 27,077 in the week before.

U. S. Industrial output rose 0.5 percent, beating market expectations for 0.3 percent rise, after a 0.4 percent contraction in June. Aside from a hurricane-related rebound in October 2008, it was the first monthly gain since December 2007, the Fed said.

An increase in output is not on OPEC's agenda because of high oil storage levels, Iran's OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi told the Mehr news agency.

The Atlantic Ocean could see its first named storm of the season in a day or two, the U. S. National Hurricane Center and other forecasters said Friday.

Crude oil has been following the movement in equities and other commodity complexes lately rather than tracking its own fundamentals. We see a further downside in crude oil on the back of speculators trimming net long positions.