Hedging contracts limit benefit of rally for some explorers Hess pays $50 million to unwind hedges; others may follow There’s a downside to oil prices being up that could cost the industry more than $7 billion. When crude markets slumped, explorers used hedging contracts to lock in payments for future barrels to ride out prices that fell as low as $27 a barrel in 2016. Now, as global tensions and OPEC supply cuts drive prices toward $70 in New York, those financial insurance policies have become a drag on profits, limiting some companies from cashing in on the rally. Hess Corp. last week said it had paid $50 million to unwind hedges that capped its sales at $65 a barrel, even as U.S. benchmark prices surged above that. It’s likely to have company, said Andrew McConn, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie Ltd . If crude stabilizes at around $68 […]