The US exported more petroleum than it imported for the first time in decades last week, marking an astonishing if momentary reversal from its longtime status as the world’s largest oil importer.

Net exports of crude oil and petroleum products from the country totalled 211,000 barrels per day in the week ended November 30, the Energy Information Administration said in a report on Thursday. As recently as 2005, US net oil imports averaged more than 12.5m b/d.