The international economic forces are many and the political gamesmanship is complex. But for folks working on oil drilling rigs, the results are stark and simple. Oil got cheap. Times got hard. WaPo’s Jim Tankersley on the plunge in oil prices and fading hope. “Four years ago, Gillham stumbled upon what is more or less an economic lottery ticket for an American man whose education stopped after high school … The crash in global oil prices late last year, with oil prices plunging from nearly $110 to about $45 for a barrel of West Texas crude, burned that lottery ticket.” This is part of the broader story of how Saudi Arabia’s oil pricing strategy is having a big impact on everything from SUV sales to alternative energy efforts.