Oil industry tallies up damage from Gustav

Initial inspections of the Gulf Coast’s extensive energy complex confirmed Tuesday that Hurricane Gustav was nowhere near as destructive as Katrina and Rita three years ago, but resumption of production and refining may be a few days away, or more.

Oil companies, rig and pipeline owners and refiners spread out across the region to look for damage from Monday’s storm, and some were already putting equipment and people back in place to resume operations. The full impact should be known in the next couple of days.

The approach of Gustav had been one of the last remaining pillars of support for oil prices.