UPDATE 10-Brent dips on weak economy, US crude up on storm

* Companies evacuate personnel from Gulf of Mexico

* U.S. non-farm productivity falls

* German, French manufacturing activity in doldrums

* Prices choppy early as market weighed economic data

* Coming up: U.S. Aug employment report on Friday

(Updates prices at settlement, recasts, adds detail)

By Edward McAllister

NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Oil in London fell on Thursday on concerns about the European economy, while U.S. crude rose slightly as a brewing storm in the Gulf of Mexico shut nearly 6 percent of output in the key producing region.

Weak manufacturing data in Germany and France, and news that Greece could miss its 2011 deficit target, pressured prices in light, choppy trading in London.

U.S. crude ended marginally higher as companies evacuated personnel from platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and shut in 5.7 percent of production there ahead of a tropical disturbance over the central gulf. [ID:nWEN7851]

Front-month Brent settled down 56 cents at $114.29 a barrel, after hitting a low of $113.61. U.S. crude rose 12 cents to settle at $88.93 a barrel, after earlier touching a four-week high of $89.81 a barrel. Traders saw resistance around the $90 level for U.S. crude.

"The stock market is lower and helping to pull U.S. crude back and the weak German and French data weighed on Brent," said Dan Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago.

Wall Street fell as investors paused after a four-day rally and awaited Friday's key payrolls report, despite mildly positive manufacturing and payroll data on Thursday. [.N]

Economic worry persisted in Europe, as German manufacturing activity grew at its slowest pace in nearly two years in August and French manufacturing activity contracted. [ID:nL9E7HO0AG]

Oil trading volumes were light. By 2:55 p.m. EDT (1855 GMT), 487,200 U.S. crude contracts were traded, 29 percent below the 30-day average. Brent crude volume was 420,200 contracts, 10.4 percent below the 30-day average.

Brent's premium against U.S. crude narrowed to $25.36 at the close, from $26.04 on Wednesday. The premium hit a record $26.69 on Aug. 19, according to Reuters data.

U.S. crude has been at a discount to Brent in part due to the glut of supplies trapped in the U.S. Midwest. A lack of pipelines has left growing production stranded at the Cushing storage hub without access to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

Magellan Midstream Partners said it will convert a products pipeline in Texas into a crude pipeline, and reverse the flow to transport oil from the Texas Permian Basin south to refiners in Houston and Texas City. The conversion project, to be completed by mid-2013, should help relieve the glut at Cushing. [ID:nN1E7800SD] (Additional reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons in New York, Zaida Espana in London and Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)