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

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.001 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, down by 189,000 b/d from the previous week, while crude oil exports averaged 5.100 million b/d, up by 1.856 million b/d, according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

Over the past four weeks, U.S. crude oil imports averaged about 6.213 million b/d, down by 5.2 percent from the same four-week period last year, and crude oil exports averaged about 4.209 million b/d, up by 7.7 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.