Tumbling oil prices mean Alberta surplus this year now $500M deficit: premier (Edmonton Journal) [View all]

January 9, 2015

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Jim Prentice says oil prices have plunged so far so fast that this year's projected budget surplus will now be a $500-million deficit.

And he says while his advisers expect oil to rebound slowly over the coming years, the budget may remain in deficit until 2018.

"It's the most serious fiscal circumstance we've seen in a generation in this province," Prentice said in an interview Thursday.

"Things have turned so dramatically that we've gone from a $1.5-billion surplus in November to what looks like a $500-million deficit based on today's projections.

Link: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Tumbling+prices+mean+Alberta+surplus+this+year+500M+deficit/10713076/story.html

I have friends who moved west due to the boom. Now they're coming back. And no more sky-high real estate in Fort Mac, I'd imagine....