Oil imports fell 4.5% in August from a year earlier.

The American Petroleum Institute also reported that the nation’s imports of oil and other petroleum products were down 10.2% for the first eight months of the year. The trade group said there has been an increasing tendency by oil companies to use existing stocks of oil rather than making new purchases because of expectations that prices will decline further. Petroleum inventories in the United States as of the end of August were 1.02 billion barrels, down 2% from the end of July and down 4.1% from August, 1984.