Sudan's Minister for Oil, Ali Ahmed Osman, has interrupted with immediate effect the transit of crude from South Sudan through Sudanese territory, the only possibility the newly-created African state has to export its oil. Flows will only be permitted to resume following an agreement on the $727 million that Sudan demands as compensation for the past four months during which oil transited. The government is experiencing a tough fight against inflation and the devaluation of the local currency that followed the South's declaration of independence in June 2001 and the consequent loss of its oil production, (about 470,000 barrels a day) which provides 90% of the country's total revenue. The current stalemate is therefore dictated by the significant interdependency there is between Southern Sudan, which needs a route to export its crude, and the North which desperately needs to support its economy.