During the debate on 8 January 2013 Local Government and Communities Minister Carl Sargeant argued that councils in Wales would receive a cash increase compared to last year's budgets, but that there should be no illusion that it was a challenging and difficult settlement.
Over the last ten years the price of oil has spiked thanks to a weak dollar, thus creating the illusion of scarcity despite abundant global supplies of what is a rather prosaic commodity.