HOUSTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Both U.S. crude oil imports and exports increased during the week ending Dec. 13, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report released on Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.649 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 665,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 4.895 million b/d, up by 1.796 million b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.501 million b/d, down by 2.1 percent from the same four-week period last year.
During the same period, crude oil exports averaged about 4.223 million b/d, down by 0.6 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.
