The government is reassuring New Zealanders we do not rely on Russian oil.
Waitomo Group general manager Jimmy Ormsby says Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused another hike in petrol prices. (File image) Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
But the Ukraine invasion has already pushed crude oil prices as high as $US105 ($NZ156) a barrel, and that has repercussions for all gas guzzlers.
Petrol prices have been climbing for weeks - averaging more than $2.50 a litre last month - driven up by the Russia-Ukraine tensions.
Waitomo Group general manager Jimmy Ormsby today said the invasion had caused another, much faster, hike.
The group bases its prices on rolling averages.
"There was around just under 10 percent increase in crude prices over the last 48 hours [to midday]. So you could expect that to be reflected in a circa 10 cent per litre price increase at the pumps, within the next week or two weeks."
He said the global oil price would likely keep rising as the violence worsened.
"Fuel you buy today's going to potentially be cheaper than what it's going to be tomorrow, so we've been trying to keep all our tanks full."
Russia is the second-largest exporter of crude oil in the world, but on the brink of war, there is a high chance those exports will dwindle - putting global oil prices up.
Massey University energy expert Emeritus Professor Ralph Sims said in New Zealand dollars, "for every dollar price rise of the world oil price, in rough terms, then there's an extra cent per litre on the purchase price at the pumps".
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand's imports of Russian oil historically had been limited to "about 20 percent", and Z Energy for example had not purchased any in the last six months.
"Our fuel supply tends to be dominated by [the] Middle East and Asia," she said.
