U.S. oil imports, exports down last week

HOUSTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports and exports decreased during the week ending March 29, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.618 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by 85,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 4.022 million b/d, down by 159,000 b/d, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Over the past four weeks, U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 6.272 million b/d, up by 0.9 percent from the same four-week period last year, while crude oil exports averaged about 4.058 million b/d, down by 18.0 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.