The country's total imports of crude oil and petroleum products was 211,000 barrels per day (bpd) less than its total imports of crude oil and petroleum products, for the week ending Nov. 30, the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status report showed.
The last time the U.S. was a net oil exporter was in 1975, according to EIA data. The historic achievement came with the revolutionary shale oil boom in the U.S., which started in 2008. Since then, crude oil production in the country soared from 5 million bpd to a record high level of 11.7 mbpd on Nov. 9, jumping 134 percent, according to EIA data.
The U.S. is poised to increase its oil exports even higher, as new pipeline capacity is expected to kick in to carry crude from the country's oil-rich Permian basin in western Texas to refineries in the U.S.' Gulf of Mexico.
Oil production in the Permian Basin is projected to reach 3.7 mbpd in December, according to the EIA. Pipeline capacity in the region is inadequate at around 2.2 mbpd but an additional 2.7 mbpd of capacity is estimated to be ready for 2019, plus a further 2 mbpd pipeline capacity for 2020. The U.S., however, is still a net crude oil importer, as it relies heavily on overseas resources. The country's crude oil imports stood at 7.2 million bpd for the week ending Nov. 30, while its crude oil exports was at 3.2 million bpd, the EIA data shows.