EOG Resources Inc. increased oil and natural gas production during the second quarter. Still, the Houston-based independent’s executives, wary of the pandemic’s potential, said they had no immediate plans to further ramp up output.

“We’re not going to grow until the market clearly needs the barrels,” President Ezra Yacob told analysts during a call Thursday to discuss 2Q2021 results. “We’re committed to staying disciplined. Currently, we want to see demand return to pre-Covid levels.”  

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forecasted that global demand this year would increase by 6.0 million b/d to average 96.6 million b/d. Most of that growth is expected in the second half of the year. The cartel projected demand next year would increase by...