U.S. crude oil imports increased while exports decreased during the week ending Jan. 28, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.085 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by about 849,000 barrels per day from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged about 2.376 million b/d, down by about 420,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.5 million b/d, 9.6 percent more than the same four-week period last year.

During the same period, crude oil exports averaged about 2.4 million b/d, down by about 591,000 b/d 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. Meanwhile, China is one of the world’s largest oil buyers.

According to the latest release from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, China’s crude oil output reached nearly 199 million tonnes last year, up 2.4 percent from the previous year.

Last year, China’s import of crude oil neared 513 million tonnes, 5.4 percent lower than the previous year, the data showed.
Source: Xinhua