The oil industry has predicted hurricane Gustav will leave far less lasting damage than the devastation that followed hurricanes Rita and Katrina three years ago.

Gustav raced across the Gulf of Mexico, the heart of the US’s oil and gas production, so quickly that it had less time to strengthen before reaching land 70 miles south-west of New Orleans. “This is not going to be anything like what we saw three years ago,’’ said Kenneth Medlock III, energy expert at Rice University.