Not all oil companies are equal when it comes to the pain of sharply lower crude prices. Some companies and national producers around the world bought insurance—in the form of hedging strategies—for just such a collapse.

This hedging tool kit allows some companies such as Hess Corp. and Cairn Energy PLC and countries including Mexico to continue selling their crude at considerably higher prices when benchmark U.S. and global oil prices plummet.

Hedging...