HOUSTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil imports and exports both increased during the week ending July 19, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 7 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 196,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged about 3.3 million b/d, up by about 758,000 b/d from the previous week, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 7.2 million b/d, down by 1.14 million b/d year-on-year, while crude oil exports averaged about 3 million b/d, up by about 839,000 b/d year-on-year.
In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released earlier this month, the EIA forecasts U.S. crude oil and petroleum product net imports will average 0.6 million b/d in 2019, down from an average of 2.3 million b/d in 2018. EIA forecasts the United States will be a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products at a rate of 0.1 million b/d by the fourth quarter of 2019 and at an average rate of 0.5 million b/d in 2020.
