Kuwait’s Opec governor Nawal al-Fuzaia is confident the meeting of oil exporters in Doha on 17 April will result in an agreement to freeze output.

Al-Fuzaia said on 5 April that she expects the Brent crude price to average between $45 and $60 a barrel from the second half of 2016 to 2018, UK news agency Reuters reported.

She expects the oil market to achieve a balance between supply and demand in the second half of 2016.

Representatives from several Opec and non-Opec members, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, are due to meet to discuss freezing crude production to buoy prices.

Al-Fuzaia said the countries might agree to freeze production at February levels, or at an average of January and February levels.

One of the big questions marks over the meeting is the potential attendance of Iran, which recently ruled out a production freeze as it pushes to recover oil output to pre-sanctions levels.