Today, despite mixed signals from OPEC on a reduction in its oil output crude oil prices are nearing $100 a barrel. This is not the kind of news commodities bulls want to hear.

However, Matt Badiali in The Growth Stock Wire says lower crude oil prices should be good news for fuel refiners. When oil prices were in the stratosphere this summer, refiners lost out because demand for gas dropped hard.

Matt says refiners’ stock is rising and should continue to do so, as long as we don’t see another spike in crude prices…

Gold prices are up again today.

Gold for December delivery gained 50 cents to $817.30 an ounce on the Nymex. Yesterday, the metal climbed $11.10, or 1.4%, to close at $816.80.

Gold is, however, a long way off its March high of over $1,000 an ounce. And many investors in gold are now left wondering what triggered such a sharp sell-off.

Geologist and S&A Oil Report editor Matt Badiali says the key to gold’s drop is the unwinding of hedge fund-positions in commodities…

Despite the drop in gold prices and silver prices today, these precious metals have been a great investment in 2008. Silver has gained a phenomenal 27 percent, while gold has climbed 17 percent. Matt Badiali says we’re on the brink of a global inflation crisis and that an investment in precious metals now is a great low-risk hedge…

Commodities expert Matt Badiali says Pennsylvania will be the center of America’s next great energy boom. The state is home to the mammoth Marcellus shale bed, a sedimentary rock rich in natural gas. Experts have estimated that up to 1,000 trillion cubic feet of gas could be extracted from Marcellus. Matt says it won’t be long before the share prices of companies setting up there will take off.

Editor’s note: What are shale fields, and how easy is it to suck oil out of them? That depends, says Matt Badiali. As companies like Schlumberger (SLB), Halliburton (HAL) and Baker Hughes (BHI) are finding out, if it’s a permeable reservoir then it’s all systems go. If it’s an impermeable reservoir, then it will take time, effort and horizontal drilling.

This piece is taken from The Growth Stock Wire. It’s in the form of a questions and answers session. But it’s well worth the read if you’re interested in the ins and outs of shale oil.

Crude oil prices are now in uncharted territory.

The black goo reached yet another all-time high today at over $141 a barrel.

Crude oil futures on the Nymex hit a new record of $141.71 in electronic trading, smashing yesterday’s all-time record price of $140.39 a barrel.

Crude oil prices spiked partly on comments made by OPEC’s president that crude oil prices go higher still on dollar weakness. Fears that Libya would cut supply also sent jitters through the market.

Editor’s Note: Oil expert Matt Badiali tackles the claim by peak oil guru Dr. Robert Hirsch that we are looking at $500 oil in the next three years.

The sulfuric-acid market is booming and oil companies are reaping the rewards.

According to the London Times, the price of sulfur has risen from $50 to $500 a ton in under a year. More from this report:

“Shell is one of the most-efficient producers of sulphur,” Barry Clarke, a sulphur market analyst for Pentasul, said.