HOUSTON, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports and exports decreased during the week ending Dec. 22, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Thursday.

       U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.276 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by 415,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 3.915 million b/d, down by 206,000 b/d, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

       Over the past four weeks, U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 6.748 million b/d, up by 8.2 percent from the same four-week period last year; crude oil exports averaged about 4.037 million b/d, up by 3.7 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.