Saudi Arabia has maintained the same share of Japan’s crude-oil imports since the end of 2016 despite reducing its production in accordance with the production-cut agreement between OPEC and major, non-OPEC oil producers, NIKKEI reports.

Saudi Arabian exports accounted for 40% of Japan’s crude-oil imports during the first half of 2017.

Between January and June, Japan imported 36.97 million kiloliters of Saudi Arabian crude oil, according to statistics released by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. Japanese imports of Saudi Arabian crude oil have risen by 6% since the same period in 2016 but are consistent with where they were in December 2016.

In order to maintain its market share, Saudi Arabia is selling its light-grade crude to Japan at a discounted rate.

While Saudi Arabia signs long-term contracts for oil exports, it adjusts its prices based upon the average price of benchmark crude. The difference in price between the lightest and heaviest grades of crude oil has fallen from $7.25 per barrel in December to $5.85 in June, a decrease of 19.3%.

Saudi Arabia reduced its oil production to 9.92 million b/d during the months of April through June.