Royal Dutch Shell Plc ( RDSa.AS ) is negotiating the sale of its stake in a Venezuelan oil joint venture to Paris-based Maurel & Prom ( MAUP.PA ), three sources said this week, a move to scale down its crude business in the ailing OPEC-member country to focus on gas. The Anglo-Dutch company is seeking to sell its 40 percent stake in Petroregional del Lago, a joint venture with Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] in the western state of Zulia near Colombia. The area has been plagued by frequent theft of equipment and near-daily power cuts as Venezuela remains mired in deep recession, hyperinflation and chronic shortages of food and medicine. Foreign companies also have complained in private that joint […]