A weakening New Zealand dollar has forced the four major petrol companies to raise prices for the first time in over six months.
The last price hike was on July 7 when 91 octane fuel hit $2.19 on the back of record crude oil hikes.
Since then it has dropped steadily, bottoming out at $1.33 as crude prices dropped from $US140 ($NZ259.59) a barrel to well below $US40.
A five cent increase today saw the cost of 91 octane shift to $1.38 a litre and 95 octane to $1.43. Diesel was not affected by the move.
A Caltex spokeswoman said the oil price had shifted up slightly overnight but the bigger issue was the slide of the dollar which had dropped from an average of US59 cents last week to US57.45c today.
Shell's Jackie Maitland told The New Zealand Herald supply had also been a problem with the Whangarei refinery closed for maintenance.
Gull resisted the shift and manager Dave Bodger said the company would consider dropping the price of diesel tomorrow following a review of the markets.
