U.S. oil imports down, exports up last week

HOUSTON, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports decreased and exports increased during the week ending Nov. 25, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.037 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by 1.027 million b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 4.948 million b/d, up by 706,000 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 6.278 million b/d, down by 0.9 percent from the same four-week period last year.

During the same period, U.S. crude oil exports averaged about 4.143 million b/d, up by 38.2 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.