U.S. oil producers reeling from an 18-month price rout have cautiously begun hedging future production this week, fearing this may be their best chance yet to lock in a $45 a barrel lifeline for 2017 and beyond. As oil markets rebounded from 12-year lows this week, U.S. shale companies – for the first time in months – started inquiring and placing new hedges for the next few years, according to three market sources familiar with money flows. Oil prices have crashed more than 70 percent in the past 20 months, driven by near-record production by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, adding to one of the worst supply gluts in history. On Thursday, even as immediate-delivery oil futures ended slightly higher, U.S. crude for December 2017 delivery fell more than 2 percent to $43.47 a barrel, weighed down in part by producer hedging, the sources […]