UPDATE 1-Independence Hub natgas platform restart delayed

(Adds details about platform production, repairs, price reaction)

NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - The restart of the Independence Hub natural gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico, shut in early April due to a pipeline leak, has been delayed until mid-June, the platform's majority owner said late Tuesday.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said testing recent repairs to the Independence Trail natural gas pipeline, where the leak had occurred, revealed a small leak which will require further work to correct.

A spokesman earlier Tuesday said he still expected the platform to be back in mid-May.

The Independence Hub is a deepwater platform which has a full production capacity of about 1 billion cubic feet per day, or about 12 percent of U.S. offshore natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

It had been producing an average of about 900 million cubic feet per day prior to the early April shutdown.

The company said the leak appeared to originate from a stainless steel o-ring located on the top flange of the flex joint in approximately 85 feet of water. The flex joint assembly connects the Independence Trail export pipeline to the platform.

The initial repair work was to tighten the bolts around the flange adjacent to the stainless steel o-ring, repressure the pipeline and inspect for leaks.

While greatly reduced, the company said there was still a small leak that required proceeding with a second step in the repair process, which is to replace the o-ring.