Oil prices rose on the back of optimism about United States economic growth, anxiety about Iran's nuclear programme dispute with the West and unrest in Nigeria, which all overrode concerns about Europe's economy and debt crisis, Reuters reported.
The price of 91 octane fuel in New Zealand was now up to 211.9c a litre. Metropolitan petrol prices hit a record 218.9c in July 2008, when oil was $US147 a barrel.
Automobile Association senior policy analyst Mark Stockdale said yesterday threats by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz - a crucial oil conduit which carries up to a fifth of world supplies - had prompted "nervousness in the commodities market".
"That [threat] has put pressure on global prices, which are in turn being seen in New Zealand," Mr Stockdale said when contacted.
In the United States, the price of crude oil for delivery in February rose almost $US1 a barrel to settle at $US102.24 earlier this week, having reached $US103.41, but it did not push beyond the consecutive intra-day peaks at around $US103.74, struck last week.
Oil prices had been in the high $US90s in December and finished 2011 at almost $US99 a barrel.
Mr Stockdale said the price rise in New Zealand was "not surprising", given that before Christmas the northern hemisphere winter had been putting pressure on international pricing, before Iran made its threat to close the strait.
He noted that about a year ago, it was the escalating Libyan crisis which had similarly pushed up international prices.
Potential supply risks have also loomed in Nigeria, Africa's largest exporter, where trade unions began a second day of strikes to protest the removal of fuel subsidies, although the strike has not yet affected oil shipments.
