:00:04. > :00:14.action that has shaken investor confidence. Time now for the latest
:00:14. > :00:24.
:00:24. > :00:27.money news with Sally and World Cleared for take-off. American
:00:27. > :00:32.Airlines and US Airways agreed to merge and create the world's
:00:32. > :00:39.biggest airline by capacity. Plus, the next energy revolution. A new
:00:39. > :00:49.report claims fracking could wipe 40% off the price of oil. But the
:00:49. > :00:49.
:00:49. > :00:53.controversial process has You're with World Business Report.
:00:53. > :00:58.I'm Sally Bundock. Also on this Valentine's Day we look at the
:00:58. > :01:02.lucrative online dating business. Is Facebook about to ruin the
:01:02. > :01:05.romance? But first American Airlines and US Airways are set to
:01:05. > :01:09.announce they have agreed to merge in a deal to create the world's
:01:10. > :01:13.biggest carrier. According to numerous reports, the board of the
:01:13. > :01:18.two companies met and agreed on the tie up late on Wednesday once they
:01:18. > :01:25.had got America's major unions and creditors on board. It comes 14
:01:25. > :01:33.months after American's parent company filed for bankruptcy
:01:33. > :01:37.protection. We can speak to Michelle for more details. We are
:01:37. > :01:41.talking about a romance in the skies today between American
:01:41. > :01:47.Airlines and US Airways. We're expecting them to formally announce
:01:47. > :01:51.the merger when the day begins here in America. Overnight obviously
:01:51. > :01:57.details have been starting to emerge. One of them is that duck
:01:57. > :02:02.Parker, the CEO of US Airways, will in fact run the newly merged
:02:02. > :02:07.company -- dunk. It's interesting because he first approached bosses
:02:07. > :02:12.and they actually turned down his approach for a merger. But his
:02:12. > :02:15.persistence has paid off, and also his ability to strike a deal with
:02:15. > :02:20.America's labour unions is ultimately what got this deal to
:02:20. > :02:25.this stage. This is the last piece in the jigsaw, because the other
:02:25. > :02:30.rivals have already got together. It leaves the three big players in
:02:30. > :02:34.the US industry. When people talk about America and the airline
:02:34. > :02:39.industry, they refer mainly to the legacy carriers. At this point we
:02:39. > :02:45.have seen this wave of consolidation, and after today we
:02:45. > :02:52.will be left with just three Legacy carriers. In 2010 United merged
:02:52. > :02:58.with Continental and in 2008 Delta tied up with north-west. Now we're
:02:58. > :03:03.at a point where American was left slightly the weaker rival -- North
:03:03. > :03:08.West. By tying up with US Airways it will gain access to lucrative
:03:08. > :03:12.routes are on the East Coast of the US. That is what analysts look at,
:03:12. > :03:16.how much overlap is there between the two airlines? Apparently
:03:16. > :03:20.they're flying routes are actually quite complimentary. Thank you for
:03:20. > :03:24.joining us. As soon as we get confirmation from the airlines that
:03:24. > :03:27.the deal is done we will make sure you know. Let's talk about a
:03:27. > :03:32.controversial method of extracting oil from shale rock known as
:03:32. > :03:36.fracking. It could drive down the cost of oil and boos To the global
:03:37. > :03:42.economy in the next two decades. That's according a report by Price
:03:42. > :03:47.Waterhouse Coopers. -- boost for the global economy. How does it
:03:47. > :03:51.work? You need to drill thousands of feet down, then sideways, into
:03:51. > :03:57.the rock. Explosions are used to fracture the shale Rock, which is
:03:57. > :04:01.then forced open by high pressure liquids and the oil or gas is
:04:01. > :04:04.forced out. -- The Rock. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers the
:04:04. > :04:09.extra oil and locked by this method could eventually hit almost 14
:04:09. > :04:15.million barrels a day, around an 8th of all global production. That
:04:15. > :04:20.could push crude oil prices down by around 24-40% in the next two
:04:20. > :04:23.decades. So what could possibly go wrong? In their mental lists are
:04:23. > :04:29.mourning fracking can cause earthquakes -- environmentalists.
:04:29. > :04:34.They say we should be investing in clean energy like wind or solar
:04:34. > :04:38.rather than digging out more fossil fuels. With me is John Hawksworth,
:04:38. > :04:42.chief economist at Price Waterhouse Coopers. Thank you for joining us.
:04:42. > :04:48.Your study that looks into this method of cutting oil and gas out
:04:48. > :04:54.of the ground, you're saying it is one of the key ways of doing this
:04:54. > :04:57.in the future because of the oil price -- getting. Without this with
:04:57. > :05:02.the growth of China and India you're going to have a huge
:05:02. > :05:06.increase in demand and prices will keep going up. Consumers in the UK
:05:06. > :05:11.and the US acceptable keep being squeezed. With the additional
:05:11. > :05:14.supply, oil prices can be lowered. This will actually boost the world
:05:14. > :05:20.economy and provide some much- needed growth. Of course this could
:05:20. > :05:26.have benefits for businesses such as airlines, they depend very
:05:26. > :05:32.heavily on fuel costs. All sorts of Petric chemicals, plastics, and
:05:32. > :05:37.also it will feed into gas prices - - petrochemicals. What about the
:05:37. > :05:40.environmental concerns? There are worries that this system of getting
:05:40. > :05:48.these fuels out of the ground could cause earthquakes and other
:05:48. > :05:53.problems. I'm not a scientist so I can't speak about the tenor -- the
:05:53. > :05:58.technicalities. All sorts of mining has risks. The government did
:05:58. > :06:01.commission a scientific study last year. The UK government? Yes. It
:06:01. > :06:06.suggested that with appropriate regulation the safety risk can be
:06:06. > :06:11.handled. The bigger issue is around carbon emissions in the long run.
:06:11. > :06:15.The Government's need to use this economic windfall from cheaper oil
:06:15. > :06:18.to reinvest in renewable technologies -- governments. In the
:06:18. > :06:23.long run these technologies are needed to keep carbon emissions
:06:23. > :06:26.under control. We will leave it there. But a huge debate and a very
:06:26. > :06:31.interesting look at the possibilities out there as far as
:06:31. > :06:35.this method of energy saucing is concerned. Other business stories,
:06:35. > :06:44.official figures out later may point to a deepening recession in
:06:44. > :06:54.the euro-zone. A GDP at estimate for the 20 Krul is -- a GDP
:06:54. > :06:55.
:06:55. > :07:03.estimates 2012 -- estimates for the last three months of 20 top. The EU
:07:03. > :07:07.-- EC world -- 2012. It follows failed attempts to bring in a tax
:07:07. > :07:11.across the whole European Union as a way of discouraging speculative
:07:11. > :07:20.trading. The UK was among the countries refusing to back it,
:07:20. > :07:24.saying it would only be affected if they applied globally. Mining giant
:07:24. > :07:29.Rio Tinto reports results today. Just a month since their boss, Tom
:07:29. > :07:32.and Moli, stepped down after the company admitted they would have to
:07:32. > :07:37.write off $14 billion after a string of unsuccessful takeovers
:07:37. > :07:44.around the world -- Tom out any. It will be the first outing for the
:07:44. > :07:48.new boss, Tom Walsh -- Tom Albany. Today is St Valentine's Day. If you
:07:48. > :07:53.have forgotten, now's your chance to go and do something about it.
:07:53. > :07:58.But these days romance means money and technology is cashing in on
:07:58. > :08:03.that. Here's Ben Thomson in New York. The internet has changed the
:08:03. > :08:07.way we do just about everything, including how we look for love. 40
:08:07. > :08:13.million Americans are now signed up with an internet dating side and
:08:13. > :08:17.it's an industry worth more than $1 billion a year. -- sight. Sites are
:08:17. > :08:21.out there that cater for every interest. Mutate ology means you
:08:21. > :08:26.can now even do that on the move -- new technology. His own Ratko
:08:26. > :08:32.Mladic promises to get me a date straight away -- this phone app
:08:32. > :08:39.promises. So does it work? I have added my photo and a few details.
:08:39. > :08:43.Let's give it a go. Well I have a reply. So let's go and meet her and
:08:43. > :08:52.find out what it's all about. And yes I have told her I am bringing
:08:52. > :08:57.along a camera, and all of you, for the date as well. It doesn't get
:08:57. > :09:02.more romantic than a carriage ride in Central Park. But what attracted
:09:02. > :09:07.you to do it that way than a more traditional way? It's really
:09:07. > :09:11.difficult to meet people in New York City particularly. Going out
:09:11. > :09:17.into bars and meeting through friends, you never really know what
:09:17. > :09:21.level of interest people have. you, all with you, pay to use a
:09:21. > :09:25.site like that? -- or would you. There's a pressure with a
:09:25. > :09:30.subscription because you don't want to spend your entire life and life
:09:30. > :09:34.savings waiting to find someone that's right for you. And that
:09:34. > :09:39.means internet dating firms are looking for new ways to make money.
:09:39. > :09:43.Traditionally they have relied on adverts. But with more of us now
:09:43. > :09:50.using the internet on the move, the boss of one firm say they are
:09:50. > :09:56.having to come up with new ways to cash in. The online market is not
:09:56. > :10:01.as mature as the mobile app market -- desktop app market. If you have
:10:01. > :10:04.a subscription business then you don't have any issues with a credit
:10:04. > :10:09.card. When you acquire the customer you get them signed up, whether
:10:09. > :10:15.they're using the mobile version of the desktop version, you still get
:10:15. > :10:18.a subscription. -- or the mobile version. But it's tough. The
:10:18. > :10:25.business of searching online, whether for a date, job or
:10:25. > :10:31.restaurant, is now converging. Facebook's new searching tool could
:10:31. > :10:35.threaten each of those. Traditionally online with dating
:10:35. > :10:42.you find strangers but says that avoids this. It is about broadening
:10:42. > :10:47.the search beyond your typical circle and that's powerful. While