Details of the first Venezuelan oil sale by the US have not yet been revealed. However, the US expects more deals in the coming days and weeks, a US official said.
Initial oil sales revenue of about 500 million USD is being held in bank accounts controlled by the US government.
Sources familiar with the matter said that the main account is located in Qatar - a country considered a neutral location where money can be transferred with US approval without the risk of being confiscated.
President Donald Trump has announced that the US will cooperate with US businesses to sell from 30 million to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil.
White House spokesman Taylor Rogers said that President Trump "mediated a historic energy deal with Venezuela" after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was arrested by the US. According to her, "this agreement will benefit the American and Venezuelan people".
The spokesman also emphasized that Mr. Trump's group is facilitating discussions with oil companies "who are ready and willing to make unprecedented investments to restore Venezuela's oil infrastructure".
Before information about the US sale of Venezuelan oil worth 500 million USD, on January 14, Reuters reported that Venezuelan crude oil was being offered to traders at discount rates compared to oil from other countries such as Canada.
Last week, President Donald Trump received several CEOs of US oil companies at the White House to discuss their needs and concerns.
The White House has launched a strategy to sell millions of barrels of Venezuelan sanctioned oil and control the proceeds, based on investments from US oil companies to restore Venezuela's oil infrastructure.
The money raised from oil sales will be shared with the Venezuelan people, US companies and the US government, according to a federal government decision.
President Donald Trump also said that all the money allocated to Venezuela will only be used to buy products manufactured by the US.
The US has imposed many sanctions on Venezuela's oil. Venezuela has reserves of more than 300 billion barrels of oil, nearly 4 times larger than the US. Although in the late 1990s, Venezuela was capable of pumping about 3.5 million barrels of oil per day, now production has decreased to about 800,000 barrels/day.
According to a CBS News/YouGov poll, the majority of Americans surveyed believe that the US should not or should not have much control over Venezuela after conducting the campaign to arrest President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
