HOUSTON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports and exports increased during the week ending Aug. 11, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

       U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.158 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 476,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 4.599 million b/d, up by 2.239 million b/d from the previous week, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

       Over the past four weeks, U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 6.719 million b/d, up by 4.1 percent from the same four-week period last year.

       During the same period, U.S. crude oil exports averaged about 4.208 million b/d, up by 11 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.