HOUSTON, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Both the U.S. crude oil imports and exports decreased during the week ending Dec. 6, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report released on Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.984 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by 1.306 million b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 3.099 million b/d, down by 1.136 million b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.760 million b/d, up by 2.5 percent from the same four-week period last year.
During the same period, crude oil exports averaged about 4.094 million b/d, down by 7.2 percent from the same four-week period last year, according to the report.
The United States has been one of the world's important oil producers in past years with the help of its shale oil production growth.