Washington in mid-October issued a general license lifting through April sanctions on the country's oil production and exports. POLICY SHIFTThe U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry to try to oust President Nicolas Maduro, whose 2018 re-election it considers a sham. In the last three weeks, PDVSA has signed new term deals to sell products, including fuel oil and asphalt cement with little known firms. LINING UPShortly after sanctions were eased last month, Trafigura chartered a vessel to pick up a fuel oil cargo at a Venezuelan port. The firm that won the offer is Romania-registered Ke Lo Ke Mgmt, PDVSA documents seen by Reuters showed.

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Persons: Marco Bello, Nicolas Maduro's, PDVSA, Nicolas Maduro, Joe Biden's, Trafigura, Lo, Ke Lo Ke, Gunvor, Marianna Parraga, Gary McWilliams, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Gunvor, Reuters, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: Puerto Cabello, Carabobo, HOUSTON, Washington, U.S, Venezuela, PDVSA, Venezuelan, Romania