HOUSTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Both U.S. crude oil imports and exports increased during the week ending May 13, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report released on Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.568 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by about 299,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged about 3.52 million b/d, up by about 641,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.276 million b/d, up by about 4.7 percent from the same four-week period last year.
During the same period, crude oil exports averaged about 3.424 million b/d, up by about 16.4 percent year on year.
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. ■