Business News Digest

Monday, August 21, 2006 REGION National security adviser PITTSBURGH — Former Freemarkets CEO David McCormick has been named a national security adviser to President Bush. As deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, the 41-year-old former Internet and software executive will attempt to craft policies that protect national security without damaging trade, the White House said. McCormick's appointment comes less than a year after he left the business world to accept a post as undersecretary for export administration, where he worked on U.S.-China trade policy. NATION Oil production improving ANCHORAGE, Alaska — BP said it has restored half of the production from Prudhoe Bay, nearly two weeks after threatening to shut the entire field down because of leaks from corroded pipelines. "The western operating area has now been restored to production of over 200,000 barrels per day," BP Alaska President Steve Marshall told a joint Alaska Senate and House Resources Committee conducting a hearing on the shutdown. The discovery of leaks and corroded pipe prompted the company to begin shutting down the nation's largest oil field Aug. 6. That threatened to take 400,000 barrels out of production. But testing of pipelines on the western side of Prudhoe Bay prompted the British operator to keep that side open. It had been producing about 150,000 barrels. Morning-after pill WASHINGTON — The manufacturer of the morning-after pill has submitted a revised application to the Food and Drug Administration seeking approval to sell the emergency contraceptive without a prescription, company spokeswoman Carol Cox said. The company amended its application to seek FDA permission for over-the-counter sales of the pills, called Plan B, to women 18 and older. The pills are now sold only by prescription in most states. The FDA told it last month it would reconsider that application if the company further amended it to limit nonprescription sales to adult women. The agency also wants details on how pharmacists would enforce the age restrictions on those sales. Plan B contains a high dose of a drug found in many regular birth control pills that, taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. Business fares raised CHICAGO — United Airlines has raised nearly all of its business fares by $5 each way, a move which is expected to be matched by other major U.S. airlines. The latest increase is the ninth broad industry fare increase this year, further fueling optimism about the strength of air passenger traffic, analyst Jamie Baker at J.P. Morgan said. United, a unit of UAL Corp., raised prices for all domestic first-class tickets, and for business customers who purchase tickets up to seven days before flying in the United States, said UAL spokeswoman Robin Urbanski. Fare increases didn't affect UAL's TED unit, she said. Wire reports