** Oil stocks among top gainers in Europe by midday as Brentsqueezes higher after opening down 2.5 pct
** Brent rises 3.2 pct, extending gains of 7.9 pcton Friday after a bigger than expected fall in the US rig counttriggered mass short-covering
** More stops triggered on Monday fuelling rise, traders say
** Short positions in oil rose to a five-year end-January
** Oil short positions chart: http://link.reuters.com/wyc93w
** Oil support services up 6-7 pct, Tullow Oil rises6.5 pct, BG up 5 pct, Shell and BP bothup 2-3 pct
** Stoxx 600 Oil & Gas index rises 3 pct, bestsector in Europe by a considerable distance
** Two-day rise of 11.3 pct for Brent its best sinceDecember 2008
** Technical factors also cited as supportive of oil price:Brent closed above 20-day SMA on Friday for first time sinceJuly
** Technicals chart: http://link.reuters.com/zyc93w (RM: alasdair.pal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)