Its lowest level since April 2009
Oil at less than $50 US a barrel is not Premier Brad Wall's fault.
Nor could Wall have truly anticipated oil at less than $50 US a barrel. Had he been able to, one suspects he might be doing something more personally lucrative.
Oil dropped to $47.91 US a barrel Tuesday - its lowest level since April 2009.
Hopes of an immediate recovery would seem unlikely. Over production in Russia and Iraq has created a worldwide surplus that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) now estimates is at two million barrels a day.
Again, Wall is not responsible for this, but there is little doubt that no past Saskatchewan premier has been as defined by as much by oil as Brad Wall. Here is why:
* He's gone to Washington to push for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline - a project that barely cuts through the southwest corner of our province and is mostly defined by the movement of heavy oilsands oil from Alberta. He's savaged federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair for his suggestion that Canada's high petro-dollar was creating a form of "Dutch Disease" in this country that was badly hurting eastern manufacturers.
* Most recently, he's condemned the Ontario and Quebec premiers for expressing environmental concerns over the Energy East pipeline, when a more subtle, diplomatic route like the one taken by Alberta Premier Jim Prentice seemed more effective.