The chief executive of Vitol, the world's largest oil trader, said on Wednesday he did not see the global oil market tightening before 2018.

Ian Taylor also expressed scepticism over the significance of a potential OPEC deal on freezing production.

"If you freeze production at a level that is clearly above demand ... is that bullish?" Taylor asked a Bloomberg conference in London.

Investors were closely watching an OPEC meeting in Algiers this week anticipating that the cartel would finally agree a plan to tackle a global crude surplus that sent oil prices tumbling in 2014. But so far, the talks have remained just that.

Taylor said it would be difficult for the market to rebalance with underwhelming global economic growth meeting slightly better-than-expected production.

He expects oil demand growth this year at 1.2 million-1.3 million barrels per day and that the liquefied natural gas market would remain long until 2022.-Reuters