HOUSTON, April 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports increased but exports declined during the week ending April 22, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report released on Wednesday.

       U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.934 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by about 98,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged about 3.721 million b/d, down by about 549,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

       Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.017 million b/d, down by 0.3 percent from the same four-week period last year.

       During the same period, crude oil exports averaged about 3.466 million b/d, up by 24.9 percent year on year.

       The United States has been one of the world's important oil producers in past years with the help of its shale oil production growth.