NEW YORK -- Crude oil plunged 15 percent, the biggest decline since 1991, on expectations that the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on Sept. 11 will trigger a recession, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.

Prices are down 20 percent since the strikes on New York and Washington forced airlines to cancel flights. Retail sales also declined, leading some economists to forecast the first U.S. recession since 1991, after the economy in the second quarter grew at its slowest pace in eight years.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The past week certainly was not a banner one, for the nation or for the petrleum marketing industry, as attorneys general in several states undertook new investigations into allegations of price gouging following the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

Gasoline retailers in Missouri accused of raising their prices without cause following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington must pay $1,000 or face lawsuits, Attorney General Jay Nixon announced Friday. And in Florida, more than 370 complaints of price gouging are being investigated, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general said.