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American oil producers have been slowly increasing output in recent months, while adding scores of new rigs to drill for oil and natural gas, especially in the Permian Basin straddling Texas and New Mexico. But oil production remains below 2019 levels preceding the pandemic, which slowed the economy and energy exploration and production.

Oil executives, under pressure from investors, have balked at raising production to much higher levels, because in the past such moves have flooded the market and undercut commodity prices. Instead, oil executives have returned recent profits to shareholders as increased dividends while they bought back shares to raise their stock prices.

A strong proponent of that strategy has been Scott D. Sheffield, the chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources, one of the leading producers in the Permian Basin. In an interview on Thursday, he shifted his position slightly in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. Sheffield said his company still intended to increase production a modest 5 percent per year over the next few years. But he added, “If there is a coordinated effort by all the western countries to ban Russian oil and gas exports, we would participate in helping Europe out to increase our production over the next two to three years.”

He cautioned, however, that such efforts would take time, noting that the industry was hamstrung by a shortage of labor and the sand needed for the hydraulic fracturing process used to extract gas from hard shales. “When you add a rig, it takes six months to get your first drop of oil out,” he added.

The United States currently produces nearly 12 million barrels of oil a day, about 60 percent of national demand, and it is now a net exporter of both oil and natural gas.

Michael D. Shear contributed reporting.