Petroleos de Venezuela SA began shuttering wells in the Orinoco Belt on December 28 due to a blockade by the Trump administration that led to storage shortages and swelling inventory, aiming to cut regional production by 25% to 500,000 barrels per day, according to two people familiar with the matter cited in a Yahoo Finance report shared by @staunovo on X during the reporting window from 3:45 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. UTC on December 30. The reduction represents a 15% decrease in Venezuela's overall output of 1.1 million barrels per day from the Orinoco Belt, which holds the world's largest oil deposits, the sources told Yahoo Finance. PDVSA took the action as the state-run company ran out of storage space. This development follows President Donald Trump's December 29 confirmation of U.S. land strikes on a Venezuelan drug facility and dock area near Maracaibo, as reported in prior coverage. It aligns with a source's claim of at least three covert operations in Venezuela over the last three weeks, cited by @OrlvndoA, and a CNN report of a CIA drone strike on a coastal port facility this month.
