Light sweet crude for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.26 to $71.60 a barrel. In London, Brent crude traded on the ICE Futures exchange gained 50 cents to $69.89 per barrel.

Nymex gasoline futures gained more than 4 cents to $2.17 a gallon.

The kidnapped workers, six British, one American and one Canadian, were aboard the drilling rig Bulford Dolphin when it was attacked during the night, Olsen Energy ASA, the rig's Norwegian owner, said in a news release.

The company said Nigerian and other authorities were working to resolve the situation, and drilling from the rig has been suspended.

Nigerian militants have blown up oil pipelines and kidnapped foreign oil workers to press their demands for local control of oil revenues by inhabitants of the oil-producing south, who feel cheated out of the wealth produced in their backyards.

The violence in Nigeria has led to the shut-in of more than 500,000 barrels per day, though new production in other areas has offset much of that loss, analysts say.

Still, the threat of output disruptions looms and it is exacerbated by the fact that the world's oil producers have less than 2 million barrels per day of spare production capacity that could be called upon in an emergency. Global consumption is expected to average roughly 85 million barrels per day in 2006.

On Wednesday, the United States said it was ready to join talks with Iran over its disputed nuclear program on the condition that Iran first suspend enrichment activities. However, Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Muttaki on Thursday rejected any conditions for talks.

Some traders took the development as a cooling off of tensions between Washington and Tehran, but analysts said the market remained concerned about the possibility of disruptions to supply out of
OPEC's second-largest producer.

"There is no resolution over the issue and so the situation will continue to support high prices," said Victor Shum, energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided, as expected, on Thursday to leave its output quotas steady at 28 million barrels a day. Most cartel members are already producing all they can to take advantage of high prices, though oil ministers said they are watching the global economy closely for any signs of weakness, hinting that a pullback in production was possible later in the year.

While global oil demand is growing more slowly than usual, it is still strong. The Energy Department reported Thursday that U.S. gasoline demand over the past four weeks was up nearly 1 percent compared with the same time last year.

The report could sooth inflation fears on Wall Street and lead financial markets to trim bets that the U.S.
Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the 17th consecutive time when policy-makers gather later this month.

Market economists had been expecting a gain of about 175,000 jobs, although some had trimmed their forecasts this week after other data suggested a little more softness. In addition, earnings were expected to move up a stiffer 0.3 percent.

The mild gain in average hourly earnings pulled down the 12-month rise in worker pay to 3.7 percent from 3.8 percent in April.

The drop in the unemployment rate, which slipped from April's 4.7 percent to reach its lowest point since July 2001, was unexpected.

A loss of 27,000 retail jobs and 14,000 factory jobs weighed on the overall May nonfarm payroll count. Construction payrolls edged up by a meager 1,000 workers.

The length of the workweek slipped back to 33.8 hours from 33.9 hours in April, the longest since September 2002.

But a "reopener" provision in the deal allowed the government to seek up to $100 million extra for unforeseen damages. Exxon reported a $36 billion profit last year.

The government sent the new cleanup plan to Exxon on Thursday. If Exxon refuses to pay, the government faces a September 1 deadline to file an official claim in court.

Exxon will study the government's request but "nothing we have seen so far ... indicates that this request for further funding from Exxon is justified," company spokesman Mark Boudreax said in a statement.

Exxon agrees that there are "small pockets" of lingering oil, but those are limited to less than two-tenths of 1 percent of the Prince William Sound shoreline, Boudreax said.

"There is no scientific evidence that this oil ... could cause damage to any population or species," he said.

Trustees overseeing Exxon's previous $900 million payment still have about $145 million on hand and that money should be used for additional cleanup, he said.

But government studies done since 2001 have found that there is still oil residue left just below the surface of Alaska's beaches from the spill.

"After extensive review it is clear that populations and habitat within the oil spill area have suffered substantial and unanticipated injuries that are attributable to the Exxon Valdez oil spill," said Alaska Attorney General David Marquez.

Marquez said he was disappointed by Exxon's initial comments. "I hope they will take a long and serious look at our proposal," he said.

Crude oil from the grounded Exxon tanker spread to 1,087 miles of coastline, including the Chugach National Forest, three national parks, four national wildlife refuges and five state parks.

Oil from the spill killed about 250,000 marine birds, 2,800 sea otters, and wreaked havoc on shellfish, mussels and killer whales, according to government estimates.

Exxon is still fighting about $5 billion in punitive damages from the spill in a civil case brought by about 32,000 fishermen, Alaska natives and property owners. That case is still pending in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Pressure has been building on stock exchanges globally to combine to cut costs and increase execution speed. But despite consolidation within Europe and the United States, there has not so far been a major deal linking exchanges in both continents.

The race kicked off earlier this year when Nasdaq Stock Market Inc., the No. 2 U.S. equities exchange, bid for the London Stock Exchange, which was rebuffed. It has since built a stake of more than 25 percent in the LSE, but under U.K. takeover rules it cannot launch a takeover bid for six months.

Under the terms of Thursday's deal, Euronext shareholders will have the right to exchange each of their shares for 0.98 NYSE Euronext shares and 21.32 euros cash. Based on Thursday's close, the deal values Euronext at 7.78 billion euros.

Euronext will also pay a previously announced extraordinary distribution of 3 euros per share.

The companies said NYSE Euronext would have a market capitalization of about 15 billion euros ($20 billion), putting it ahead of futures mart Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc., currently the U.S.'s biggest publicly-traded exchange valued at about $15 billion.

WHERE NEXT FOR DEUTSCHE BOERSE?

The NYSE unveiled its proposed offer for Euronext on May 22, but faced a competing cash-and-share proposal from Deutsche Boerse worth around 8.6 billion euros that day. Euronext executives favored the NYSE deal.

Deutsche Boerse was not immediately available for comment on Thursday about what its next move might be.

Jan Michiel Hessels, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Euronext, who will be chairman of the new company, said in a statement that Euronext's Supervisory and Management Boards had gone through an "extensive process of identifying the best consolidation opportunity for our shareholders, issuers, and users, and we strongly believe NYSE is the best partner."

Thain said in a statement: "A partnership with Euronext fulfills our shared vision of building a truly global marketplace with great breadth of product and geographic reach that will benefit all investors, issuers, and our shareholders and stakeholders."

Thain said earlier on Thursday at the NYSE's first annual shareholder meeting -- it became a public company in March -- that a definitive agreement with Euronext would not stop the Paris-based exchange from entertaining other offers.

He also said a deal with Euronext could take six months to complete amid regulatory hurdles and possible competition from other bids, but said regulators in the United States and France were supportive of a potential NYSE/Euronext tie-up.

In an e-mailed statement, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said: "We are working with our counterparts in Paris and Amsterdam to establish a cooperative approach to the type of combination being proposed. We have every expectation that a transaction can take place that will benefit investors in all of the affected countries."

NYSE and Euronext said on Thursday they expect to generate pre-tax annual cost and revenue synergies of 295 million euros ($375 million) through the deal.

NYSE shares closed 4 percent higher at $62.45. Euronext rose 2.8 percent to 68.90 euros.

Earlier on Thursday, it emerged that the CEO of NYSE's arch-rival Nasdaq, Bob Greifeld, on Wednesday held a meeting with the chief executive of the LSE, Clara Furse, according to people close to the matter -- although they said that takeover talks were not on the agenda.

Solar heaters are tanks, usually placed on roofs, that use
solar energy to heat pipes that contain water or a convective fluid whose heat is then transferred to water.

The heated water is used for baths, showers or swimming pools.

The surge in European sales coincided with a sharp rise last year in prices for fossil fuels, coupled to a boost in tax incentives in many countries for energy conservation.