Nationwide crude stockpiles gain by 4.75 million barrels: API Russia prefers production freeze to cuts: Nation’s OPEC envoy Oil dropped for a third day after industry data showed U.S. crude stockpiles expanded as Russia said it preferred freezing output at current levels rather than cutting production. Futures declined as much as 1.5 percent in New York after closing below $50 a barrel Tuesday for the first time in more than a week. U.S. crude inventories increased by 4.75 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. Energy Information Administration data Wednesday is forecast to show supplies rose. Output cuts are not an option for Russia, the nation’s envoy to OPEC said, according to Interfax. Oil has fluctuated near $50 a barrel amid uncertainty about whether the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can implement the first output cuts in eight years and attract producers from outside […]