This year’s top-performing U.S. oil producer doesn’t have any operations in the world’s fastest-growing shale play. (Bloomberg) — This year’s top-performing U.S. oil producer doesn’t have any operations in the world’s fastest-growing shale play. New York-based Hess Corp. has climbed about 64% this year to trade above $66 on Tuesday in New York. The S&P 500 Energy Index, meanwhile, is up just 12% over the same period. Hess is leading the pack with the exception of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which is being bought by Occidental Petroleum Corp. following a bidding war with Chevron Corp. Unlike a long list of other oil drillers, Hess isn’t staking its name on the prolific Permian Basin, which has seen shale output nearly double in two years. Instead, the company is tapping a massive discovery more than 3,000 miles away in Guyana and tinkering with techniques to improve results in North Dakota. “There’s value […]