HOUSTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports increased, while exports decreased during the week ending Jan. 18, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday.
According to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, U.S. crude oil imports averaged 8.2 million barrels per day last week, up by 664,000 barrels per day from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 2 million barrels per day last week, down by 931,000 barrels per day from the previous week.
Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 7.7 million barrels per day, down 2.1 percent from the same four-week period last year. U.S. crude oil exports over the past four weeks averaged about 2.3 million barrels per day, up by approximately 1.0 million barrels per day year-on-year.
U.S. total oil products imports last week averaged 2.1 million barrels per day, down by 274,000 barrels per day from the previous week, while U.S. total oil products exports averaged 4.9 million barrels per day, up by 200,000 barrels per day from the previous week.
Over the past four weeks, U.S. total oil products imports averaged about 2.0 million barrels per day, up by 143,000 barrels per day from the same four-week period last year. U.S. total oil products exports over the past four weeks averaged about 5.0 million barrels per day, up by 95,000 barrels per day from the same four-week period last year.
In total, the net imports of crude oil and products in the United States was 3.36 million barrels per day last week, up by about 1 million barrels per day from the previous week.
EIA forecast on Thursday that the United States will become a net energy exporter in 2020 thanks to its increasing output of crude oil and decreasing domestic consumption of petroleum products.
According to EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2019 released on Thursday, the U.S. position as a net energy exporter would remain from 2020 through 2050 as a result of large increases in crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas plant liquids production coupled with a slow growth in U.S. energy consumption.
During the week ending Nov. 30, 2018, the United States exported more crude oil and petroleum products than it imported for the first time in weekly data going back to 1991. This single-week estimate was considered part of a longer-term trend: the United States is on the way to become a net energy exporter.
