MAJOR economic barriers will complicate the implementation of the minerals deal reached between the United States and Ukraine, The Washington Post said on Saturday.

The US newspaper reported that conversations with leading experts showed that the agreement is unlikely to provide quick profits and that the prospects for the oil and gas industry are limited.

Ben Cahill, the director for energy markets and policy at the University of Texas’s Centre for Energy and Environmental Systems Analysis, said: “I’m not convinced that larger companies that have opportunities around the world will see this as a competitive place to invest.”