Stephen Hemsley Longrigg OBE (7 August 1893 – 11 September 1979) was a British military governor, petroleum company manager and a leading authority on the history of oil in the Middle East.
[1] In 1931, as part of a policy to replace British officials with Iraqis, Longrigg left the administration and joined the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC).
By now he was an accomplished linguist and Arabist, with a wide knowledge of tribal affairs[2] He joined IPC at a time when the Company was preparing to build the first pipeline system from Kirkuk to the Mediterranean.
He also had to organise the recruitment of labour, rates of pay and conditions of employment, and to make arrangements for the security of Company personnel and property.
[4] Later in the 1930s, he played an important part in obtaining the first oil concessions for the Trucial Coast, including one for the sheikhdom of Abu Dhabi for 75 years, agreed on 14 January 1939.
Having a good command of Arabic, he served on the general staff of Army headquarters in Cairo, planning for the expected occupation of Italian colonial possessions in Africa.