[comment caption=How have you been affected by the rise in oil prices?]The average New Zealand motorist will spend almost $700 a year more on petrol this year than last year, with the latest price increases meaning budgets will be stretched even further.
Prices went up 6c a litre yesterday, with Shell, Caltex and Mobil raising their prices earlier in the day, followed by BP late in the afternoon.
Standard unleaded 91 octane petrol is now selling for 206.9c a litre in the main centres, 95 octane for 211.9c and diesel 179.9c.
The price increase follows the rise in crude oil by 8% to a record $US139 ($NZ183) a barrel at the weekend.
Shell spokeswoman Jackie Maitland said the barrel prices had "only been going one way, really, and that's up.
Compounded with the falling NZ dollar, [that] means we've not really felt the full impact at the pumps yet."
An Automobile Association report on car costs, completed in April, shows the average cost of running a petrol vehicle has increased by 7.5% since 2007.
A small petrol vehicle (0-1500cc) would cost almost $7200 a year to run in 2008, including petrol, oil, tyres, repairs and maintenance, the report said.
A medium petrol vehicle (2000cc-3500cc) would cost almost $11,000 to run, while a large vehicle (3500cc plus) would cost almost $13,850 a year to run.
Of those running costs, based on the price of petrol yesterday, a small car owner would pay $1867.39 a year in petrol, while the owner of a large car would pay $3431.96 a year in petrol.
For the popular family-sized cars, such as SUVs, vans and utes, people could expect to pay $2791.71 a year.
All estimates are based on a car being used to travel 14,000km a year, the national mileage average.
Diesel vehicles can, in some car categories, be more expensive to run, even though they cost less at the pump.
But a medium-sized car at the current diesel price would cost about $1850 a year to fill up and, with an extra $450.10 in road user costs, would mean at $2300 it would still cost less than to fill a medium petrol car for a year.
The report said that as the cost of fuel climbs, smaller more efficient vehicles were retaining their value longer while large vehicles were depreciating faster.
