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.”

Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes, former deputy director for batteries and critical materials at the Department of Energy during the Biden administration, told the Post: “We struggle to raise money for mineral exploration in places like the US, Canada and Australia. 

“Think how much harder it will be to raise money for these earlier-stage activities in Ukraine.”