The United States has completed the transfer of 500 million US dollars from the first Venezuelan oil sale under a deal reached with Caracas last month, Reuters reported. The final 200 million US dollars of the proceeds has now been sent to Venezuela, marking the conclusion of the initial transaction.

The funds, which were temporarily held in Qatar, were intended to ensure the Venezuelan government could maintain operations while the agreement was implemented. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the money is to be "disbursed for the benefit of the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the U.S. government."

The arrangement follows the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a U.S. military operation on January 3. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week during testimony on Capitol Hill that U.S. involvement in the oil sale was a short-term measure designed to stabilize the country and maintain government services. "So in essence, we allowed Venezuela to use their own oil to generate revenue to pay teachers and firefighters and police officers and keep the function of government operating so we didn’t have systemic collapse," he explained.

Looking ahead, the U.S. official said future oil sale proceeds are expected to be moved into a U.S.-based fund, with expenditures authorised for Venezuelan government obligations under agreed procedures.