Vetco Offshore Industries was founded in 1930 by Fritz Huntsinger Sr. after he purchased the failing Schwab-Lane Tool Company, an oilfield tool repair shop where he had previously been employed. Shortly thereafter, he renamed it the Ventura Tool Company. After struggling during the Great Depression, Ventura Tool Co. helped develop the initial core drilling equipment for small floating drill rigs off the California coast during the 1950s. Ventura Tool Company changed its name to Vetco Offshore Industries, Inc. in 1963. Carl Huntsinger became president of the company in 1969, replacing his father. Vetco was sold in the 1980s to Houston-based Combustion Engineering (C-E) and moved away from its original base in the Ventura Oil Field. Throughout its existence as Ventura Tool Company and Vetco Offshore Industries, it acquired several companies, became a global operation and produced notable innovations that both insured its success and significantly altered the industry.

Fritz Huntsinger Sr., founder and long-term president of Vetco Offshore Industries, was born on June 8, 1899 in Eimeldinger, Germany. He served in the German army in WWI. After the war, he graduated from Nuremburg University in Diesel Engineering and immigrated to the United States in 1923 when oil was just becoming a major industry in Ventura County. He was first employed as a helper at Schwab-Lane Tool Company, eventually becoming general foreman of the company. When the Lane Tool Company experienced financial difficulty during the Depression, he purchased it for $5,000 at a sheriff’s auction in 1930. Shortly after the purchase, it was renamed the Ventura Tool Company and became the forerunner of Vetco Offshore Industries, which eventually repaired, designed and sold offshore drilling equipment on a global scale.

Fritz Huntsinger was known for his philanthropy and for pioneering numerous innovations that led to his successful oil tool companies. He invented the Tuboscope, the Split Drill Pipe Protector and co-developed the Nozzle Jet Bit with Jim Hanes. He helped fund the Ventura County Historical Museum and the Ventura Community Hospital. He furnished the hospital with the first brain and body scan machines west of Chicago. He also received an honorary doctorate degree from Pepperdine University and received awards for his work with the Salvation Army and the Boy Scouts of America. He passed away in 1986 in Ventura County.