Eni declines comment on North Sea sale report

MILAN, June 15 (Reuters) - Italy oil company Eni SpA (ENI.MI) declined to comment on Monday on a report that it planned to sell most of its North Sea oil fields for more than $1 billion.

Eni has hired Rothschild to sell the fields, according to an online version of Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. They produce about 20,000 barrels of oil a day and contain 120 million barrels of reserves.

"We never comment on newspaper articles," an Eni spokeswoman said.

In its unsourced report, the Sunday Times said the sale would be one of the largest in the North Sea in recent years and would be hotly contested by Japanese buyers.

The sale does not include Eni's stakes in the Liverpool Bay, J Block or Elgin fields, it said.

Shares in Eni were down 1.39 percent at 17.79 euros at 0756 GMT. The DJ Stoxx oil and gas index .SXEP was 1.86 percent lower. (Editing by Will Waterman)