NYMEX-Crude up, above $71, on economic data

* Continuing jobless claims fall, first time since Jan

* Mid-Atlantic manufacturing down less severe than forecast

* World Bank boosts forecast for China growth

* OPEC head: no output cut needed if current prices remain

NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures firmed
above $71 a barrel midday on Thursday as traders took heart
from positive data on U.S. continuing jobless benefit claims
and regional manufacturing.

News that Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) had halted some oil
production in Nigeria following an attack by militants on its
pipelines in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta was also
supportive, analysts said. For details see [ID:nLI310768]

Also helping boost oil futures, Wall Street rose on the
upbeat economic data [.N] and the dollar dipped against the
euro as recovery hopes lessened the greenback's safe-haven
allure and attracted investors to commodities. [USD/]

"I think that the Philly Fed report which showed manufacturing contracting at the lowest rate in 9 months and the ... the first
drop in 21 weeks (in continuing job benefit claims) helped turn
the market around," said Gene McGillian, analyst for Tradition
Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.

"The market seemed to get a boost from fresh attacks in
Nigeria. It looks like hostilities are increasing and the
market is concerned about supplies from there, he added."

Meanwhile, the president of OPEC, Angolan Oil Minister Jose
Botelho de Vasconcelos, said the group will not need more cuts
in 2009 if oil prices remain at current levels. [ID:nLI632825]

But de Vasconcelos said that oil price fundamentals were
still not strong enough to justify the recent price rise as oil
stocks were high with an estimated 63 days of forward cover.

PRICES

* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, at 1:20 p.m. EDT
(1720 GMT), July crude CLN9 was up 37 cents, or 0.52 percent,
at $71.40 a barrel, trading from $70.22 to $71.73. The contract
expires on Monday.

* In London, August Brent crude LCOQ9 was up 31 cents, or
0.44 percent, at $71.16 a barrel, trading from $69.80 to
$71.49.

* NYMEX July RBOB RBN9 was down 0.33 cent, or 0.16
percent, at $2.0293 a gallon, trading from $2.0065 to $2.0410.

* NYMEX July heating oil HON9 dropped 1.85 cents, or 0.99
percent, at $1.8445 a gallon, trading from $1.8269 to $1.8745.

* The July/July RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at
$13.83, after ending at $14.34 on Wednesday. The July/July
heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $6.07, after ending
at $7.22 on Wednesday.

* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $14.45, based
on the July 2014 contract Wednesday settlement at $85.85.

TECHNICALS

NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $70.62/$67.91

Technical support/resistance:

NYMEX crude: $69.50/$72.70

NYMEX heating oil: $1.8420/$1.8852

NYMEX RBOB: $2.0172/$2.10

For a report on technicals click [ID:nLI888828]

MARKET NEWS

* OPEC seaborne oil exports, excluding Angola and Ecuador,
will fall 40,000 bpd to 22.78 million barrels per day in the
four weeks to July 4, according to an estimate by Roy Mason, an
analyst at UK Consultancy Oil Movements. [ID:nWLA6891]

* The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless
benefits rose last week but the number of people staying on the
rolls after collecting an initial week of aid fell for the
first time since January, the Labor Department said.
[ID:nN18383787]

* Manufacturing in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic area contracted in
June for the ninth consecutive month but much less severely
than expected and far less than in the previous month, a
regional Federal Reserve survey showed. [ID:nN18266955]

* The Conference Board's index of leading economic
indicators rose in May, the second consecutive rise and the
largest since a jump of 1.4 percent in March 2004.[ID:WEQ001114]

* Massive policy stimulus should keep China growing at a
respectable rate this year and next, but a robust recovery is
unlikely given global weakness and soft nongovernmental investment, the World Bank said. [ID:nPEK255142]
(Reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons; Editing by Christian
Wiessner)