HOUSTON, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports increased while exports decreased during the week ending Nov. 17, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.

       U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.529 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 156,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 4.786 million b/d, down by 103,000 b/d, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

       Over the past four weeks, U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 6.430 million b/d, up by 1.7 percent from the same four-week period last year; crude oil exports averaged about 4.774 million b/d, up by 22.8 percent, according to the report.

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