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DUBAI, March 7 (Reuters) - TAQA has begun the process of reopening the Brent crude pipeline, a spokesman for the Abu Dhabi-based operator said on Thursday.

The Brent North Sea oil system was shut on Saturday due to a leak at the Cormorant Alpha platform.

"The start up process has started," a spokesman for the company in Abu Dhabi said, adding that it would take time before crude starts flowing again because other operators would have to restart their fields.

The 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) system, which forms part of the global Brent oil benchmark, was shut on Saturday after oil was found to have leaked into a leg of the Cormorant Alpha platform in the UK North Sea.

The company has now confirmed that it is safe to reopen the Brent system, while the Cormorant Alpha platform remains closed.

"Investigations have found there is no connection between the Brent pipeline system and the pipeline involved in the release," Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. TAQA.AD said in a statement.

"The process of restarting Brent throughput follows a thorough technical evaluation that shows it is safe to do so without any increased risk to Cormorant Alpha."

Brent crude LCOc1 last traded before the shutdown at $110.40 a barrel on Friday, opened Monday at $110.58 and broke through $112 on Wednesday. O/R

Around 90,000 bpd of oil typically flows through Cormorant Alpha, which forms part of the Brent pipeline system that ultimately delivers the oil to Sullom Voe, including 10,000 bpd of production from Cormorant Alpha when it is fully operational.

Cormorant Alpha's production has remained shutdown since an earlier hydrocarbons leak in the same leg in mid January and will remain closed while work on the platform leg is completed, TAQA said.

The Brent system is jointly owned by 21 companies. It consists of part of the processing systems and structure on the Cormorant Alpha platform, operated by TAQA, as well as a pipeline connecting Cormorant Alpha to the BP BP.L-operated Sullom Voe Oil Terminal in the Shetland Islands.

Cormorant Alpha also handles oil from the Dunlin, Thistle, Northern producer, Murchison, North Alwyn, Tern, Eider and North Cormorant Platforms.

(Reporting by Daniel Fineren, editing by William Hardy)

((daniel.fineren@thomsonreuters.com)(+971 4 453 6482)(Reuters Messaging: daniel.fineren.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: BRENT TAQA/