NEW YORK -- Oil briefly plunged below $69 a barrel Thursday, bringing its price to less than half its July record high after the government reported massive increases in U.S. crude and gasoline supplies, according to The Associated Press.

Investors took the news as more evidence that a global credit crisis and a shaky economy are curbing demand for oil, which at one point Thursday fell to its lowest level in nearly 16 months.

At the pump, a gallon of regular gasoline shed another 4 cents overnight to a new national average of $3.084, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. At this rate, the national average could fall below $3 by the weekend.