It is located about 10 km south of the border to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which is a straight line drawn in the desert.

There is a 650-kilometer fibre optic cable linking Shaybah to the main radio system at Abqaiq.

It was established by Saudi Aramco during the 1990s, and, prior to this, only the rough tracks used by early exploration teams existed in this isolated desert region.

When established, the Shaybah oilfield had estimated reserves of over 14 billion barrels (2.2×109 m3) of crude oil and 25 trillion cubic feet (710 km3) of gas.

[1] A drone attack by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group occurred on the field on Saturday 17 August 2019 with aims at disrupting the oil supply.