Both U.S. crude oil imports and exports increased during the week ending March 31, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a report released on Wednesday.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.144 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 1.819 million b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 5.239 million b/d, up by 655,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Over the past four weeks, U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 6.214 million b/d, down by 2.3 percent from the same four-week period last year.

During the same period, U.S. crude oil exports averaged about 4.946 million b/d, up by 47 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.
Source: Xinhua