* China Feb exports tumble unexpectedly, heighten slowdown fears * Libyan rebels warn of 'war' if navy attacks oil tanker * U.S. job growth offers upbeat sign for weather-beaten economy * Brent to fall towards $107.37 - technicals (Changes dateline; previous SINGAPORE, adds quote, updates prices) By Lin Noueihed LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - Oil slipped below $108 a barrel on Monday as an unexpected fall in China's exports stoked fears of a slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy, though geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Libya limited the decline. The drop in exports stoked worries over growth in oil demand as it followed a series of disappointing factory surveys since the start of 2014. Price gains in recent weeks on tensions in Ukraine mean oil is seeing a steeper correction. Most risk assets, including Asian shares and base metals, also fell due to the weak numbers. Brent crude was trading 89 cents down at $108.11 by 0925 GMT, having snapped two straight days of gains to fall $1.25 earlier in the session. U.S. oil fell $1.21 to $101.37 a barrel after touching a high of $102.82. "We've seen some disappointing data from China ... But I think people get a bit over-pessimistic about these numbers when the overall picture is still quite good. The falls will be limited," said Christopher Bellew, trader at Jefferies Bache. "There has been no sign of deterioration in Ukraine. At the end of last week there was a rally that priced in an unexpected event at the weekend and that hasn't happened." MARKET OUTLOOK Russian President Vladimir Putin defended breakaway moves by pro-Russian leaders in Crimea, where Russian forces tightened their grip on the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula by seizing another border post and a military airfield. Germany's Angela Merkel delivered a rebuke to Putin, telling him that a planned Moscow-backed referendum on whether Crimea should join Russia was illegal and violated Ukraine's constitution. Gazprom warned on Friday that it could stop shipping gas to Ukraine over unpaid bills, increasing pressure on the new government in Kiev and its supporters in Europe. "We will continue to see some back and forth between Russia and the West over Ukraine," said Victor Shum, vice-president of energy consultancy IHS Energy Insight. "The ongoing situation in Ukraine will put a high floor on oil prices and lead to more volatility." Oil is also being supported by a crisis in Libya. Libya threatened to bomb a North Korean-flagged tanker if it tried to ship oil from a rebel-controlled port, in a major standoff over the country's petroleum wealth. Combined Chinese exports in January and February fell 1.6 percent from the same period a year earlier. That raised concerns that the data was not weak due to distortions caused by the Lunar New Year holiday, which began on Jan. 31 and covered early February. Prices were under pressure even though China's crude oil imports in the first two months of the year rose 11.5 percent from a year earlier, as investors saw the rise partly as a result of a build-up in commercial crude inventories. "Supporting imports was the start-up of two new refineries in January, with a combined capacity of 440,000 barrels per day," Sijin Cheng, an analyst at Barclays, said in a note. "But refiners also built stocks, commercial crude inventories were up 3.6 percent month-on-month by the end of January." (Additional reporting by Manash Goswami in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson)

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