Oil glut to ease this year, IEA predicts

The IEA said in its monthly oil market report that it still anticipates " steady oil demand growth and falling non-OPEC supply" , referring to producers outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

" This scenario is now taking shape and the oil market looks set to move close to balance in the second half of this year," it said.

Expectations that the Doha meeting will agree to freeze output have helped buoy prices recently after reports that OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC producer Russia had reached a consensus on freezing output, boosting hopes of a wider deal.

The IEA said it remained confident that in 2016 global oil demand would grow by 1.2 million barrels per day. India may overtake China as " the main engine of global demand growth" , the agency also noted.

On the supply side, the IEA said it saw signs that an expected slide in US shale production " is gathering pace" .

" By early April the rig count had fallen nearly 80 per cent from the peak seen in October 2014 and more anecdotal evidence is emerging of financial problems taking their toll on the shale pioneers," the IEA said.

The agency said the global oil surplus is expected to fall to 200,000 barrels per day in the second half of 2016, from 1.5 million in the first six months.