Japan’s trade ministry on Sunday released official data showing its Iranian imports in July tumbled by nearly half, reflecting a sharp decline.

Japanese oil firms imported 143,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, according to the data.

Iran had exported 293,000 bpd to Japan in July 2016.

Iran sits on the world’s fourth-largest oil and second-largest gas reserves, and is among the world’s top 10 oil and top five natural gas producers.

Japan was one of the key clients of Iranian oil with 338,000 bpd of imports before the sanctions in 2012. During the years of sanctions, Japan continued to import crude from Iran, though at limited volumes, under a preliminary nuclear agreement.

The sanctions were lifted after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 reached an agreement on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and started implementing it on January 16.