The oil market is in the early stages of a “sustainable but protracted recovery,” according to oil and gas analysts at Jefferies International Limited. The oil market is in the early stages of a “sustainable but protracted recovery,” according to oil and gas analysts at Jefferies International Limited. “ Supply/demand balances will transition to balance and then under-supply in the back half of 2016,” said Jefferies in a research note seen by Rigzone. “Oil prices may not fully react to the fundamental under-supply until inventories draw to more normal levels in the late 2017/early 2018; at that point we believe $70 oil is fundamentally supported,” the company added. Jefferies reported that the oil price has moved to a level that is within reach of the $61 per barrel “break-even for the sector,” which improves the “defensive qualities” of international oil companies as dividends can generally be viewed as safe […]