HOUSTON, May 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports and exports both decreased during the week ending May 17, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.9 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by 669,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged about 2.9 million b/d, down by about 425,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
According to the EIA's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, U.S. net imports of crude oil and petroleum products fell from an average of 3.8 million b/d in 2017 to 2.3 million in 2018.
New technologies that allow the United States to extract oil and gas from shale rock formations has led to a boom in U.S. energy production in recent years. As a result, its net energy imports are expected to fall continuously in the coming years.
