U.S. Makes First Venezuelan Oil Sale After Maduro’s Ouster, Valued at $500 Million

The Trump Administration secured its first sale of Venezuelan oil since its aggressive military operation in the South American country that led to the capture of the nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro. The sale, confirmed to TIME by a Trump Administration official, is valued at $500 million. The official added that more sales are expected to be finalized in the coming days and weeks. “President Trump brokered a historic energy deal with Venezuela, immediately following the arrest of narcoterrorist Nicolás Maduro, that will benefit the American and Venezuelan people,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement to TIME.  “President Trump’s team is facilitating positive, ongoing discussions with oil companies that are ready and willing to make unprecedented investments to restore Venezuela’s oil infrastructure,” she continued. “President Trump is protecting our Western Hemisphere from being taken advantage of by narcoterrorists, drug traffickers, and foreign adversaries.” Details of the sale were first reported by Semafor. The news outlet also reported that revenue from the deal is being kept in bank accounts controlled by the U.S. government, including one based in Qatar. Read more: What’s Happening With the U.S. and Venezuela, Explained In the aftermath of Maduro’s capture, Trump said that the U.S. would “run the country” until a “proper and judicious transition” of power took place. He indicated that the U.S. would take control of the oil industry in the South American nation. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the U.S. plans to seize and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, the funds from which would be disbursed, by the U.S. government, “in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.” “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” the President said earlier this month.