U.S. crude oil imports and exports increased during the week ending Dec. 29, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report released on Thursday.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.895 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 619,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 5.292 million b/d, up by 1.377 million b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.595 million b/d, up by 7.0 percent from the same four-week period last year.

During the same period, crude oil exports averaged about 4.275 million b/d, up by 4.6 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. ■
Source: Xinhua