Bahrain says a newly-discovered oil field contains up to 80bn barrels of tight (or shale) oil, dwarfing the Gulf island kingdom's current reserves.

巴林政府近日表示，一个最新发现的油田，含有储量高达800亿桶的致密油(或页岩油)，这令该海湾国家目前的石油储量“相形见绌”。

Appraisals of the offshore Khaleej Al Bahrain basin by two US firms also suggest the presence of 280bnto 560bn cubic metres of natural gas.

两家美国公司对位于海岸的Khaleej Al Bahrain盆地的评估也表明，这里储存着2800至5600亿立方米的天然气。

Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said it was not yet known how much oil could be extracted.

该国石油大臣谢赫·穆罕默德·本·哈利法·阿勒哈利法表示，目前还不知道可以提取多少石油。

But it could turn Bahrain into a major player in the global market.

但该油田可能会使巴林成为全球市场的主要参与者。

Officials expect extraction from the oil field to begin within five years, according to Bahrain's national news agency.

根据巴林国家通讯社的消息，相关官员预计油田开采将在五年内开始。

Before the discovery, Bahrain had proven crude reserves of just 125m barrels and 92bn cubic metres of natural gas.

在该发现之前，巴林已有原油储量仅为1.25亿桶，天然气为920亿立方米。

By comparison, neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, has 266bn barrels of proven reserves. Qatar, the top exporter of liquefied natural gas, has 24tn cubic metres of gas.

相比之下，其邻国、世界最大的石油出口国沙特阿拉伯拥有2660亿桶探明储量。卡塔尔则是液化天然气的最大出口国，拥有24万亿立方米天然气。