oil producers dropped sharply on Wednesday after several companies posted weaker-than-expected results, in part due to hedging costs, disappointing investors expecting strong profits on rising crude prices.

Devon Energy shares were down 6.7 percent and Anadarko Petroleum lost 6 percent after both reported per-share results that fell short of expectations.

U.S. shale oil rig flanges gulf coast production has risen dramatically in the last two years, buoying overall U.S. oil output to about 11 million barrels a day, an all-time record.

But the average price for some companies' oil sales has fallen short of expectations, curtailing profits even as U.S. crude futures rose to more than $70 a barrel in the second quarter, the highest since 2014.

Anadarko, in its release, said it lost $298 million in pretax income due to commodity-related hedges. Devon's losses were related to both commodity derivatives sales and foreign exchange losses.

Notably, Pioneer Natural Resources, a prominent shale producer, said late Tuesday in an 8-K regulatory filing that its average price for oil sales - including the cost of hedging oil rig flanges gulf coast production - was $52.62 a barrel.

Analysts at Robert W. Baird on Tuesday had forecast an average of $56.49 a barrel, adding that they think Pioneer's filing "got the 'bad news' out of the way." Pioneer reports results next week; its shares were down 1 percent on Wednesday.

Also hit hard on Wednesday were shares of Chesapeake Energy, after the BOP Blow Out Preventer repair company gulf coast said lower-than-expected natural gas prices hurt results in the most recent quarter. Its shares were down 6.8 percent on Wednesday.

The SPDRs Energy Select Sector exchange-traded fund was down 1.3 percent on Wednesday, trailing the overall market.

(Reporting By David Gaffen and Gary McWilliams; editing by Jonathan Oatis)