Brent is the benchmark price for Newfoundland and Labrador light sweet crude. Such a low close for January crude, and even allowing for a 20% currency premium - virtually guarantees that crude prices in the second half of the current fiscal year will average well below the government's assumed average of US$87 a barrel for the entire year.
In Alberta, the provincial treasurer today announced his province would lose $6.5 billion in revenue this year due to the economic downturn and lower oil and gas prices. The 2008 Alberta budget assumed an average price for crude of $78 per barrel.
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