I have an Options and Futures assignment, I have to create an equally weighted portfolio and use future contracts to hedge risk.

1. The future contracts tickers are LCOc1, LCOc2, LCOc3 - do I need to pick one of these? How do I make the choice? I have a contango curve, is this useful in picking?

2. To perform a minimum variance hedge ratio do I use historical data to find std dev?

3. When hedging should I use 1 month horizon or longer time is better?