Oil price rises on Nigeria effect
World oil prices jumped overnight due to possible attacks to oil facilities in Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest producer of crude. Analysts said prices also rose on latest US employment data, which suggested solid demand for energy ahead.

The US government it had learned that a militant group in Nigeria may have completed plans to launch attacks on oil facilities in the region. It said the attacks will be carried out sometime during the first week of November and will include 10 to 20 simultaneous bombings of land-based targets and a series of separate attacks on oil installations in which expatriate workers will be taken hostage.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, surged 92 cents to $US58.80 per barrel in pit trading.

The contract had closed down almost a dollar on Thursday. In London, Brent North sea crude for December delivery advanced 83 cents to $US58.70 per barrel in electronic trading after shedding more than Thursday.
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BA vanishing from UK regional airports
Continuing losses have forced British Airways to sell its loss-making subsidiary BA Connect to low-cost rival Flybe and the BA logo will disappear from Birmingham, Bristol, Inverness, Belfast, Southampton and Isle of Man airports as it continues to cut its losses and shrink back to core operations.

Earlier operating from more than 25 UK airports BA from March 25, 2007, will fly out of only nine airports as airlines like Flybe, Ryanair, easyJet and a host of smaller carriers start serving the regional markets.

The decision to sell BA Connect comes less than a year after the brand was created from British Airways' regional routes and operations.

Chief executive Willie Walsh had said that BA Connect had two years to turn around.

But with losses running at £6million in the first half of the financial year, Walsh has acted swiftly to axe the Manchester-based subsidiary, which currently employs 1,900 staff and operates 52 routes from 13 UK regional airports.

Following the acquisition of BA Connect, the merged airline will operate out of 159 routes across Europe from 59 airports. The new route network will be 70 per cent domestic UK, 20 per cent European business and 10 per cent leisure destinations.
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