U.S. stockpiles of commercial crude oil declined by 4.9 million barrels the last week of November as the nation continues to emerge as a net petroleum exporter. The Houston Chronicle said Dec. 4 the U.S. is producing a record 12.9 million barrels of crude oil a day and exporting nearly a quarter of that crude daily. The U.S. still imports about twice as much crude as it exports, but when considering refined products such as gasoline the nation exported 62,000 more barrels of petroleum products that it imported the last week of November. The U.S. Department of Energy said September was the first month when the nation exported more petroleum supplies that it imported.