Fairfield still working on small North Sea leak

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil producer, Fairfield Energy, said on Monday oil was leaking from its North Sea field for a sixth day running after British authorities said over the weekend the leak was too small to put workers or the environment at risk.

Unlisted Fairfield Energy, a small producer, first identified an oil spill at the Osprey field last Tuesday, taking two wells offline. Some 8.7 tonnes have spilled since then, mainly between Tuesday and Friday last week, the firm has said.

"Very small quantities of oil are being released intermittently from the manifold, and this is dispersing readily in the prevailing weather conditions," Fairfield said in a statement.

British Department of Energy said on Saturday the spill presented no risk to personnel and will have no impact on the environment. On Monday, it reiterated that quantities released were very small and "dispersing quite quickly."

Fairfield was set up six years ago as major oil firms began to exit some operations in the North Sea. It will see BP's (BP.L) former chief executive, John Browne, join its board soon.

A spokeswoman for Fairfield said it was not clear how long repairs would take despite identifying the source of the leak and sending a diving support vessel to repair it. The field produces 1,305 barrels per day, according to government data.

The field is feeding into installation located 195 kilometres north-east of the Shetland Islands.

The last significant leak in the North Sea, a mature oil and gas region, happened earlier this year on French major Total's (TOTF.PA) North Sea Elgin platform where gas leaked for more than seven weeks.

(Reporting By Hannah Vinter; editing by James Jukwey)