HOUSTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Both U.S. crude oil imports and exports increased during the week ending May 3, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.969 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 198,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 4.468 million b/d, up by 550,000 b/d, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Over the past four weeks, U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 6.675 million b/d, up by 8.4 percent from the same four-week period last year, while crude oil exports averaged about 4.573 million b/d, up by 7.6 percent, according to the report.
The United States has been one of the world's important oil producers in the past years with the help of its shale oil production growth. ■