The recent oil price rally raised hopes among producers that the worst may be over when it comes to a slump that has persisted for 14 months now.

Even the venerable International Energy Agency suggested recently that oil prices may be on a rebound after having fallen below $30 a barrel earlier this year.

“For prices, there may be a light at the end of what has been a long, dark tunnel,” the IEA said in its March oil report. “But we cannot be precisely sure when in 2017 the oil market will achieve the much-desired balance.” (Read more)