Shares of U.S. shale oil producers dropped on Wednesday after several companies posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit from rising spending and hedging losses that kept them from fully benefiting from higher crude prices. Devon Energy Corp shares were down 2.7 percent at $43.78, Chesapeake Energy Corp was down 6.6 percent at $4.41 and Anadarko Petroleum Corp was down 5.2 percent at $69.34 on Wednesday afternoon after they reported earnings per share below analyst expectations. U.S. shale production has surged in the last two years, buoying overall U.S. oil output to a record of about 11 million barrels per day. Oil producers use hedges as an insurance contract to lock in a future selling price for production. Many shale producers hedged second-quarter production at about $55 a barrel, which […]