<P> In 1900 a massive hurricane struck Galveston, destroying much of the city . That and another storm in 1915 shifted much of the focus from investors away from Galveston and toward nearby Houston, which was seen as a safer location for commercial operations . Because of these events, the coming oil boom became heavily centered on the city of Houston both as a port and a commercial center . </P> <P> Though Texas had notable urban areas at the turn of the century, it was still a predominantly rural state . Texas was largely open range, meaning that livestock could freely roam throughout the state . </P> <P> In the 1850s, the process to distill kerosene from petroleum was invented by Abraham Gesner . The demand for the petroleum as a fuel for lighting around the world quickly grew . Petroleum exploration developed in many parts of the world with the Russian Empire, particularly the Branobel company in Azerbaijan, taking the lead in production by the end of the 19th century . </P> <P> In 1859, Edwin Drake of Pennsylvania invented a drilling process to extract oil from deep within the earth . Drake's invention is credited with giving birth to the oil industry in the U.S. The first oil refiner in the United States opened in 1861 in Western Pennsylvania, during the Pennsylvanian oil rush . Standard Oil, which had been founded by John D. Rockefeller in Ohio, became a multi-state trust and came to dominate the young petroleum industry in the U.S. </P>

In which state did the oil rush in texas was preceded by the oil boom begin