Storm brewing? in the Black Sea
Kiev tears up Vanco deal
Ukraine's environment ministry has cancelled Vanco Energy's licence for the Prykerchensky Block, in the Black Sea - awarded to the US explorer last October, according to a ministry order published today.
The order did not give a reason for the move, but earlier news agency reports quoted a government official as saying the company had not provided technological and financial plans for the venture, as required by the terms of the agreement.
Vanco said it will pursue the matter in international arbitration courts.
Last month, chairman Gene Van Dyke denied any breach of terms and promised to start the first deep-water drilling in 2010.
He also denied rumours that Vanco was considering selling the licences to another large multinational company.
The contract allowed Vanco to explore and extract for 30 years in the Prykerchensky block - an area of just under 30,000 square kilometres at the northern end of the Black Sea and 13 kilometres offshore.
Vanco had said that it would spend as much as $3 billion in the long-term, starting with a $190 million investment in the first three years.