HOUSTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports increased while exports decreased during the week ending March 1, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
According to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.0 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by nearly 1.1 million b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 2.8 million barrels a day, down by 556,000 b/d from the previous week.
Last week, U.S. crude oil imports hit a 23-year low, averaging 5.9 million barrels per day (b/d) , down by about 1.6 million b/d from the previous.
Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.7 million b/d, 11.7 percent less than the same four-week period last year. The daily average exports of crude oil over the past four weeks were about 3.0 million barrels, up by 1.5 million b/d year-on-year.
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. From Nov. 24 to Nov. 30, the United States exported an estimated record 3.2 million b/d of crude oil as well as an estimated 5.8 million b/d of petroleum products such as distillate fuel oil, motor gasoline, and propane.
In the Annual Energy Outlook 2019 released in January, the EIA forecast that the United States will become a net energy exporter in 2020 thanks to its increased crude oil production and decreased domestic consumption of petroleum products.
