Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] has signed a deal with little-known U.S. energy firm Erepla that is part-owned by a prominent Florida Republican to help increase the socialist-run country’s plummeting crude oil output, the company said. Erepla Services LLC, part-owned by Republican Harry Sargeant III and which Delaware state records show was only registered two months ago, said it plans to invest up to $500 million to increase production at three Venezuelan oil fields in exchange for a portion of the crude produced. The arrangement faces significant hurdles including obtaining an exemption from Trump administration sanctions that block U.S. companies from providing financing to the government of President Nicolas Maduro or Venezuelan state firms. It is a further […]