The Canadian company Central European Petroleum (CEP) on Monday announced it has made a major oil discovery off the Polish Baltic coast.

According to the results of test drilling, the recoverable reserves of crude oil and natural gas are estimated at 200 million barrels of oil equivalent, the company said.

CEP said the Wolin East offshore oil field is located around 6 kilometres from the port city of Świnoujście, which is in the extreme north-west of Poland on the border with Germany.

The company said the Wolin East site is estimated to represent "the largest conventional hydrocarbon field" ever discovered in Poland and “one of the largest conventional oil discoveries in Europe in the past decade.”

Mining could begin in three to four years. The field could cover 4 percent to 5 percent of Poland's annual oil demand for several years.