KHARTOUM - The government of South Sudan has decided to stop oil production from Friday onwards, a government spokeswoman told Xinhua.

Elisabeth Charles, who is also the deputy minister of oil, told a Khartoum-based Xinhua correspondent by telephone that the decision was made as Sudan and South Sudan failed to iron out their disputes over the transit fee which the south was asked to pay for using the oil infrastructure on Sudan's territories to export its crude oil.

After the separation with South Sudan in July 2011, the north lost two thirds of its oil resources, while the two sides have not agreed on the oil-sharing issue yet.