DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The small island nation of Bahrain announced the discovery on Wednesday of 80 billion barrels of shale oil, its largest oil and gas find ever.

Bahrain’s oil minister and energy executives detailed the find at a press conference, saying the oil was discovered in the offshore Khalij al-Bahrain Basin, which spans some 770 square miles in shallow waters off the country’s western coast.

Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said the amount of oil that can be extracted from the basin is still being studied.

Still, the discovery dwarfs the onshore Bahrain oil field, which produces around 45,000 barrels per day.

The non-OPEC country also produces close to 160,000 barrels of oil per day from an offshore field it shares with Saudi Arabia.

The minister announced a separate discovery of gas reserves below Bahrain’s main gas reservoir.

Estimates on the deep gas reserves in the region are between 10 and 20 trillion cubic feet.

Experts and officials said they expect the newly discovered oil field to be producing within five years.

associated press