US oil imports, exports down last week: EIA

US crude oil imports and exports both decreased during the week ending Sept 11, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.

US crude oil imports averaged 5.0 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by about 416,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged about 2.6 million b/d, down by about 349,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 5.3 million b/d, down by about 1.3 million b/d year on year, while crude oil exports averaged about 3.0 million b/d, down by about 162,000 b/d year-on-year.

The United States is a world important 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 tons of crude oil in August, up 12.6 percent year-on-year.