U.S. crude oil imports increased during the week ending Dec. 14, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
According to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.4 million barrels per day (b/d) last week, up by 30,000 b/d from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 7.5 million b/d, 1.6 percent more than the same four-week period last year.
Total motor gasoline imports last week averaged 595,000 b/d, and distillate fuel imports averaged 139,000 b/d.
U.S. crude oil exports averaged 2.3 million b/d last week, up by 51,000 b/d from the last week.
U.S. crude oil production stayed level at 11.6 million barrels b/d, according to the EIA report.
Oil prices recovered on Wednesday, wiping off some of the sharp losses on Tuesday, as U.S. stockpiles fell last week and Federal Reserves announced an interest rates hike for the fourth time this year.
The West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rose 0.96 U.S. dollar to settle at 47.2 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery jumped 0.98 dollar to close at 57.24 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.