"A major incident has been declared due to an oil leak from the Wytch Farm oil field," Philip Broadhead, council leader for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole said on Twitter.
"We have today been advised by the operators that there has been a leak from the facility. Whilst this has been contained, we are told that oil has escaped into the water and surrounding area."
Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) said the leak had occurred on a pipeline operated by French-British company Perenco.
In a press release, Perenco UK described the leak as "limited", and said it was "working closely with the relevant authorities and a clean-up operation is under way".
"A full investigation will be launched to determine what happened at Poole Harbour," said Franck Dy, managing director of Perenco UK.
"The situation is under control," he added.
Wytch Farm, which has been in operation since 1979, is one of the largest onshore oil fields in Europe.
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