MADRID (Reuters) - Any compensation deal between Argentina and Spanish oil major Repsol (>> Repsol SA) over the nationalisation of Argentina's national oil firm YPF (>> YPF SA) is preferable to a lawsuit, Spain's secretary of state told Spanish newspaper Expansion.

"A deal, whether good, bad or average is always better than a lawsuit," Jaime Garcia-Legaz said in an interview with Expansion published on Tuesday.

Argentina and Repsol struck a preliminary deal last week over compensation for the seizure of the Spanish firm's controlling stake in YPF after talks in Buenos Aires involving representatives of the Spanish government.

Detailed talks are due to begin this week, the Argentine government said on Friday.

(Reporting By Sarah Morris; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

Stocks treated in this article : Repsol SA, YPF SA