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

U.S. crude oil imports decreased while exports increased during the week ending Sept. 25, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.1 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by about 45,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged about 3.5 million b/d, up by about 490,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 5.2 million b/d, down by about 1.4 million b/d year on year, while crude oil exports averaged about 3.0 million b/d, down by about 62,000 b/d year on year.

The United States has become a major oil producer in the past years with the help of its shale oil production growth. Meanwhile, China has become one of the biggest oil importers.

According to the latest release from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, China imported 47.48 million tonnes of crude oil in August, surging 12.6 percent year on year.
Source: Xinhua