HOUSTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports increased while exports decreased during the week ending March 22, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report released on Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.702 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 424,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 4.181 million b/d, down by 700,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.423 million b/d, up by 7.1 percent from the same four-week period last year.
During the same period, crude oil exports averaged about 4.212 million b/d, down by 5.9 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. ■