HOUSTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Both U.S. crude oil imports and exports increased during the week ending Jan. 14, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report released on Thursday.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6,745 million barrels per day last week, up by 675,000 barrels per day from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged about 2,610 million b/d, up by about 655,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.4 million b/d, 10.8 percent more than the same four-week period last year.
During the same period, crude oil exports averaged about 2,512 million b/d, down by about 618,000 b/d year on year.
The United States has been a world important oil producer in the past years with the help of its shale oil production growth. Meanwhile, China is one of the world's largest oil buyers.
According to the latest release from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, China imported 41.79 million tonnes of crude oil in November, down 7.9 percent from a year earlier.
During the January-November period, China's crude oil imports fell 7.3 percent year on year to 466.84 million tonnes, NBS data showed. ■