14/02/2013 World Business Report

action that has shaken investor confidence. Time now for the latest

money news with Sally and World Cleared for take-off. American

Airlines and US Airways agreed to merge and create the world's

biggest airline by capacity. Plus, the next energy revolution. A new

report claims fracking could wipe 40% off the price of oil. But the

controversial process has You're with World Business Report.

I'm Sally Bundock. Also on this Valentine's Day we look at the

lucrative online dating business. Is Facebook about to ruin the

romance? But first American Airlines and US Airways are set to

announce they have agreed to merge in a deal to create the world's

biggest carrier. According to numerous reports, the board of the

two companies met and agreed on the tie up late on Wednesday once they

had got America's major unions and creditors on board. It comes 14

months after American's parent company filed for bankruptcy

protection. We can speak to Michelle for more details. We are

talking about a romance in the skies today between American

Airlines and US Airways. We're expecting them to formally announce

the merger when the day begins here in America. Overnight obviously

details have been starting to emerge. One of them is that duck

Parker, the CEO of US Airways, will in fact run the newly merged

company -- dunk. It's interesting because he first approached bosses

and they actually turned down his approach for a merger. But his

persistence has paid off, and also his ability to strike a deal with

America's labour unions is ultimately what got this deal to

this stage. This is the last piece in the jigsaw, because the other

rivals have already got together. It leaves the three big players in

the US industry. When people talk about America and the airline

industry, they refer mainly to the legacy carriers. At this point we

have seen this wave of consolidation, and after today we

will be left with just three Legacy carriers. In 2010 United merged

with Continental and in 2008 Delta tied up with north-west. Now we're

at a point where American was left slightly the weaker rival -- North

West. By tying up with US Airways it will gain access to lucrative

routes are on the East Coast of the US. That is what analysts look at,

how much overlap is there between the two airlines? Apparently

they're flying routes are actually quite complimentary. Thank you for

joining us. As soon as we get confirmation from the airlines that

the deal is done we will make sure you know. Let's talk about a

controversial method of extracting oil from shale rock known as

fracking. It could drive down the cost of oil and boos To the global

economy in the next two decades. That's according a report by Price

Waterhouse Coopers. -- boost for the global economy. How does it

work? You need to drill thousands of feet down, then sideways, into

the rock. Explosions are used to fracture the shale Rock, which is

then forced open by high pressure liquids and the oil or gas is

forced out. -- The Rock. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers the

extra oil and locked by this method could eventually hit almost 14

million barrels a day, around an 8th of all global production. That

could push crude oil prices down by around 24-40% in the next two

decades. So what could possibly go wrong? In their mental lists are

mourning fracking can cause earthquakes -- environmentalists.

They say we should be investing in clean energy like wind or solar

rather than digging out more fossil fuels. With me is John Hawksworth,

chief economist at Price Waterhouse Coopers. Thank you for joining us.

Your study that looks into this method of cutting oil and gas out

of the ground, you're saying it is one of the key ways of doing this

in the future because of the oil price -- getting. Without this with

the growth of China and India you're going to have a huge

increase in demand and prices will keep going up. Consumers in the UK

and the US acceptable keep being squeezed. With the additional

supply, oil prices can be lowered. This will actually boost the world

economy and provide some much- needed growth. Of course this could

have benefits for businesses such as airlines, they depend very

heavily on fuel costs. All sorts of Petric chemicals, plastics, and

also it will feed into gas prices - - petrochemicals. What about the

environmental concerns? There are worries that this system of getting

these fuels out of the ground could cause earthquakes and other

problems. I'm not a scientist so I can't speak about the tenor -- the

technicalities. All sorts of mining has risks. The government did

commission a scientific study last year. The UK government? Yes. It

suggested that with appropriate regulation the safety risk can be

handled. The bigger issue is around carbon emissions in the long run.

The Government's need to use this economic windfall from cheaper oil

to reinvest in renewable technologies -- governments. In the

long run these technologies are needed to keep carbon emissions

under control. We will leave it there. But a huge debate and a very

interesting look at the possibilities out there as far as

this method of energy saucing is concerned. Other business stories,

official figures out later may point to a deepening recession in

the euro-zone. A GDP at estimate for the 20 Krul is -- a GDP

estimates 2012 -- estimates for the last three months of 20 top. The EU

-- EC world -- 2012. It follows failed attempts to bring in a tax

across the whole European Union as a way of discouraging speculative

trading. The UK was among the countries refusing to back it,

saying it would only be affected if they applied globally. Mining giant

Rio Tinto reports results today. Just a month since their boss, Tom

and Moli, stepped down after the company admitted they would have to

write off $14 billion after a string of unsuccessful takeovers

around the world -- Tom out any. It will be the first outing for the

new boss, Tom Walsh -- Tom Albany. Today is St Valentine's Day. If you

have forgotten, now's your chance to go and do something about it.

But these days romance means money and technology is cashing in on

that. Here's Ben Thomson in New York. The internet has changed the

way we do just about everything, including how we look for love. 40

million Americans are now signed up with an internet dating side and

it's an industry worth more than $1 billion a year. -- sight. Sites are

out there that cater for every interest. Mutate ology means you

can now even do that on the move -- new technology. His own Ratko

Mladic promises to get me a date straight away -- this phone app

promises. So does it work? I have added my photo and a few details.

Let's give it a go. Well I have a reply. So let's go and meet her and

find out what it's all about. And yes I have told her I am bringing

along a camera, and all of you, for the date as well. It doesn't get

more romantic than a carriage ride in Central Park. But what attracted

you to do it that way than a more traditional way? It's really

difficult to meet people in New York City particularly. Going out

into bars and meeting through friends, you never really know what

level of interest people have. you, all with you, pay to use a

site like that? -- or would you. There's a pressure with a

subscription because you don't want to spend your entire life and life

savings waiting to find someone that's right for you. And that

means internet dating firms are looking for new ways to make money.

Traditionally they have relied on adverts. But with more of us now

using the internet on the move, the boss of one firm say they are

having to come up with new ways to cash in. The online market is not

as mature as the mobile app market -- desktop app market. If you have

a subscription business then you don't have any issues with a credit

card. When you acquire the customer you get them signed up, whether

they're using the mobile version of the desktop version, you still get

a subscription. -- or the mobile version. But it's tough. The

business of searching online, whether for a date, job or

restaurant, is now converging. Facebook's new searching tool could

threaten each of those. Traditionally online with dating

you find strangers but says that avoids this. It is about broadening

the search beyond your typical circle and that's powerful. While