HOUSTON, April 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports and exports decreased during the week ending April 5, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.

       U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.434 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by 183,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 2.708 million b/d, down by 1.314 million b/d, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

       Over the past four weeks, U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 6.508 million b/d, up by 4.8 percent from the same four-week period last year; while crude oil exports averaged about 3.948 million b/d, down by 9.7 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.