It’s been a rough week in Alberta.  

This crash in oil prices triggered by an escalating price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia dealt another big hit to the province, especially considering it’s been struggling with low oil prices for the last four years. 

With West Texas Intermediate prices hovering between US$30 and US$35 per barrel all week, many fear it could be a knock-out blow for some players in the patch.  

“The last five years have been hard on everyone in the energy sector, especially smaller and mid-sized companies. The closer they are to actual drilling and site-based activities, the bigger the challenge,” Mike Holden, chief economist at the Business Council of Alberta, told BNN Bloomberg in an interview.

“Now with this oil price crash, it’s like a fighter being ordered back into the ring five minutes after having barely survived a 10-round fight.”