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UAE says stocks not rising despite production increases

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OPEC+ close to completely unwinding voluntary output cut

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Still has 3.65 million barrels per day of other cuts in

place

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OPEC+, oil companies meet for biennial seminar

(Updates with comments from CEOs throughout)

By Ahmad Ghaddar and Maha El Dahan

VIENNA, July 9 (Reuters) - Output increases from oil

producer group OPEC+ are not leading to higher inventories,

showing that markets are thirsty for more oil, ministers and

executives from OPEC nations and bosses of Western oil majors

said on Wednesday.

OPEC+, which pumps about half of the world's oil, has been

curtailing production for several years to support the market.

But it has reversed course this year to regain market share and

as U.S. President Donald Trump demanded the group pump more to

help keep a lid on gasoline prices.

OPEC+, comprising the Organisation of the Petroleum

Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, began to unwind

cuts of 2.17 million barrels per day in April with a production

boost of 138,000 bpd. Hikes of 411,000 bpd followed each month

in May, June and July.

On Saturday, the group approved a 548,000-bpd jump for

August and will likely approve a large hike for September when

it meets again in August, sources told Reuters.

"You can see that even with the increases for several months

we haven't seen a major buildup in inventories, which means the

market needed those barrels," United Arab Emirates' Energy

Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei told reporters.

Mazrouei was speaking on the sidelines of a biennial OPEC

seminar, which brings together top oil ministers and executives.

OPEC has withheld access to the seminar to reporters from

Reuters and several other news organisations. OPEC declined to

comment on why it was doing this.

Global oil demand will increase by about 1.2-1.3 million bpd

for the rest of this year, despite challenges from U.S. tariffs

and trade tensions, Amin Nasser, the CEO of Saudi oil giant

Aramco, told the seminar, according to participants.

Nasser cited rising U.S. gasoline demand and China's

petrochemical sector as growth drivers.

Chinese and Japanese buyers are requesting more oil in a

further indication of strong demand, Shaikh Nawaf Al-Sabah, the

CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation told the seminar, according

to participants.

OPEC has ramped up production partly because it wants to

regain market share from rivals such as the United States,

sources have told Reuters.

BP CEO Murray Auchincloss said he saw non-OPEC

production stagnating next year after hitting new highs in

recent months.

The physical oil market looks tight and China is boosting

stockpiles, Auchincloss said, according to participants.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan said he was more concerned

about oil field depletion rates of 4-5% a year, meaning more

investments were needed, according to participants.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said he thought

the market was rather well supplied given that demand growth has

halved in China in recent years, according to participants.

With planned output rises, OPEC+ will likely complete the

return to the market of the 2.17 million bpd of voluntary cuts

in September. It is also allowing the UAE to complete a 300,000

bpd separate output increase.

OPEC+ still has separate cuts of 3.65 million bpd in place,

consisting of 1.65 million bpd in voluntary cuts by eight

members and 2 million bpd across all members. Those cuts expire

at the end of 2026.

(Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Maha El Dahan, Yousef

Saba, Olesya Astakhova and Shadia Nasralla. Writing by Dmitry

Zhdannikov and Alex Lawler. Editing by Mark Heinrich and Mark

Potter)