By Steve Holland
Item 1 of 2 A view of the installations at the Puerto La Cruz oil refinery of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, January 23, 2026. REUTERS/Samir Aponte/File Photo
[1/2]A view of the installations at the Puerto La Cruz oil refinery of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, January 23, 2026. REUTERS/Samir Aponte/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – The United States has now returned to the Venezuelan government all $500 million from the initial sale of oil that was part of a deal reached between Caracas and Washington last month, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
The last $200 million from the sale has been sent to Venezuela, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The deal came about after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured in a U.S. military operation on January 3.
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“Venezuela has officially received all $500 million from the first Venezuelan oil sale,” the official said.
The official added that the money is to be “disbursed for the benefit of the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the U.S. government.”
Last week during testimony on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said U.S. involvement in the sale of Venezuelan oil was a short-term effort aimed at stabilizing the country, keeping the government afloat and helping the people.
“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 said.
The funds had been held in Qatar and intended as a “temporary, short-term account to ensure Venezuela received the funds needed to operate,” the U.S. official said.
The official added that the long-term goal for future sales is to move the proceeds “into a fund located in the U.S. and to authorize expenditures for any obligation or expense of the government of Venezuela or its agencies and instrumentalities upon instructions that are consistent with agreed upon procedures.”
Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Tom Hogue and Edwina Gibbs
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华盛顿，2月3日（路透社） – 一名美国官员周二表示，美国已向委内瑞拉政府返还了上月加拉加斯与华盛顿达成的协议中涉及的首批石油销售收入5亿美元。
该官员在匿名的情况下透露，最后一笔2亿美元的石油销售收入已汇至委内瑞拉。这项协议是在1月3日委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗被美军行动捕获后达成的。
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“委内瑞拉已正式收到首批石油销售的全部5亿美元，”该官员表示。
该官员补充说，这笔资金将”由美国政府酌情分配给委内瑞拉人民使用”。
上周在国会山作证时，国务卿马可·卢比奥表示，美国介入委内瑞拉石油销售是为了稳定该国局势、维持政府运转并帮助民众的短期举措。
“本质上，我们允许委内瑞拉利用其自身石油资源创收，以支付教师、消防员和警察的工资，维持政府职能运转，避免系统性崩溃，”他说道。
美国官员称，这些资金此前存放在卡塔尔，作为”临时短期账户，以确保委内瑞拉获得运营所需资金”。
该官员还表示，未来销售的长期目标是将收益”转入美国境内的一个基金，并根据与商定程序一致的指示，授权用于委内瑞拉政府或其机构的任何义务或支出”。
Steve Holland 报道；Tom Hogue 和 Edwina Gibbs 编辑
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（注：原文中”Item 1 of 2″、”[1/2]“等为原文排版标识，已按要求保留）
US says it has returned to Venezuela all $500 million of initial oil sale
By Steve Holland
Item 1 of 2 A view of the installations at the Puerto La Cruz oil refinery of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, January 23, 2026. REUTERS/Samir Aponte/File Photo
[1/2]A view of the installations at the Puerto La Cruz oil refinery of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, January 23, 2026. REUTERS/Samir Aponte/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – The United States has now returned to the Venezuelan government all $500 million from the initial sale of oil that was part of a deal reached between Caracas and Washington last month, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
The last $200 million from the sale has been sent to Venezuela, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The deal came about after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured in a U.S. military operation on January 3.
Sign up here.
“Venezuela has officially received all $500 million from the first Venezuelan oil sale,” the official said.
The official added that the money is to be “disbursed for the benefit of the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the U.S. government.”
Last week during testimony on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said U.S. involvement in the sale of Venezuelan oil was a short-term effort aimed at stabilizing the country, keeping the government afloat and helping the people.
“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 said.
The funds had been held in Qatar and intended as a “temporary, short-term account to ensure Venezuela received the funds needed to operate,” the U.S. official said.
The official added that the long-term goal for future sales is to move the proceeds “into a fund located in the U.S. and to authorize expenditures for any obligation or expense of the government of Venezuela or its agencies and instrumentalities upon instructions that are consistent with agreed upon procedures.”
Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Tom Hogue and Edwina Gibbs
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Purchase Licensing Rights
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