WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (Xinhua)-- Crude oil imports in the United States rose last week as commercial crude oil inventories remained stable, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Friday.

For the week ending Dec. 21, U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.7 million barrels per day, which was 233,000 barrels per day higher than the figure of the previous week.

Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 7.4 million barrels per day. For the same period in 2017, the four-week average of crude oil imports dropped 2.3 percent.

U.S. crude oil inventories are about 7 percent above the five-year average for this time of year. Excluding the inventories in the strategic petroleum reserve, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories stood at 441.4 million barrels, virtually unchanged from the previous week, according to the EIA.

Total motor gasoline imports, which include finished gasoline and gasoline blending components, averaged 509,000 barrels per day last week. Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 3 million barrels last week, the EIA said.