KIEV, Feb. 2 - The Ukrainian government plans later this month to sign an amicable agreement with a consortium led by private U.S. oil company Vanco Energy allowing exploration of massive oil and gas fields offshore the Black Sea.

Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Kliuyev said the government has completed talks with Vanco, following the previous government’s move to cancel the production sharing agreement in May 2008.

“We completed the procedure of preparing and signing the amicable agreement,” Kliuyev said after a government meeting. “It will be signed in February.”