Losses for oil futures worsened Wednesday after U.S. government data revealed hefty weekly increases in domestic supplies of gasoline and distillates, though crude stockpiles posted an unexpected decline.

Petroleum products, especially heating oil, “had an eye opening, much larger build than was expected,” Tariq Zahir, managing member at Tyche Capital Advisors, told MarketWatch. Also noteworthy, inventories at the U.S. trading hub of Cushing, Okla. “saw a build for the first time in several weeks.”

West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery CLG20, -0.41%  lost 72 cents, or 1.2%, at $57.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after gaining 0.3% on Tuesday, while March Brent BRNH20, -0.51%  shed 90 cents, or 1.4%, at $63.59 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, following a 0.5% return in the previous session. Both benchmarks were poised to finish at their lowest since early December.

The Energy Information...

Expect low and lower prices for oil and natural gas during Election 2020. Since long before he was elected, President Trump consistently called for lower oil prices, and he has strived to maintain low oil prices with his Middle East policies. The third rail of energy policy for every elected official in Washington D.C. is that no one is re-elected if prices increase at the pump or the electricity meter. Not Republicans. Not Democrats. This is why there is no national carbon pricing mechanism and no leadership from Washington to address climate change, even though a majority of all voters favor biting the bullet and paying for action to reduce carbon emissions in the US.

With this landscape in place, the one positive federal action that would benefit industry, consumers and the environment would be the construction and completion of natural gas pipelines to New England. That could buy votes for both Republicans and Democrats this...