HOUSTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports and exports decreased during the week ending April 18, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.589 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by 412,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 3.549 million b/d, down by 1.551 million b/d, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Over the past four weeks, U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 6.601 million b/d, down by 6.8 percent from the same four-week period last year, and crude oil exports averaged about 3.944 million b/d, down by 5.2 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.
