HOUSTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports and exports decreased during the week ending Jan. 19, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report released on Wednesday.

       U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.580 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by 1.840 million b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 4.434 million b/d, down by 595,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

       Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.534 million b/d, up by 5.3 percent from the same four-week period last year.

       During the same period, crude oil exports averaged about 4.519 million b/d, up by 21.1 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.