Petrol hits $3 a litre

People at the petrol pump yesterday were resigned to higher prices as unleaded 91 topped $3 a litre for some in the South.

AA Otago District Council chairman Malcolm Budd said AA members were concerned. The uncertainty overseas, as Russia invaded the Ukraine, seemed at least partly to blame for rising prices.

"I don’t know what the answer is," Mr Budd said. "We’re certainly hearing it from our members: the price of fuel keeps on increasing."

Higher fuel prices were having real world consequences for everyone in the South, Mr Budd said.

It was not just parents picking up children from school. As transport costs increased so too did the price of everyday goods, he said.

Fuel price-tracking app Gaspy put the national average of unleaded 91 at $2.86 a litre yesterday, a 10.5% increase over the past month.

Prices across the South ranged from $2.65 a litre at NPD Self Serve Andy Bay to $3.17 a litre at Z Queenstown. .

One motorist in the resort said petrol prices were "way too high". Recently returned from a road trip, another Queenstown resident said diesel prices were "rocketing up in certain areas".

"When we were first travelling, it was pretty consistent, all around $1.97 a litre, and then suddenly it went nuts — every company is charging differently. We’ve seen it [diesel] as low at $1.73 and as high as $2.23 — that’s a 50 cents difference."

A Dunedin taxi driver said it was time for the Government to make electric vehicles more affordable.

"Once it hits $3 a litre they’re not going to feel sorry for us and make it stop," he said.

A Dunedin student said petrol prices were "stupid".

Two years ago her small car took $50 to fill. Yesterday afternoon, at NPD Self Serve Andy Bay she spent $83, and she had arrived at the petrol station with a quarter tank.

"It’s demand — no-one’s going to stop driving," she said.

A motorist at Pak’nSave Dunedin said petrol prices were "crazy", but shrugged.

"It’s out of our hands."

And while yet another agreed, he said it was important to keep things in perspective.

"It could be worse," he said.

"At least our homes aren’t being bombed."

Unleaded 91 surpassed $3 a litre in Auckland and Wellington last week.

-- HAMISH MACLEAN and LUCY WORMALD