BP is putting up the price of petrol by 7c a litre and diesel by 5c from midnight on Monday.
The price rise was expected in the wake of Opec's decision to trim crude oil production by 5 per cent next month.
BP said the move by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries forced the oil company to lift its prices but it had deliberately delayed the action until most people had returned from summer holidays.
Monday's increase will push the price at most BP stations to $1.06 for unleaded, $1.11 for premium and 74.9c for diesel.
World prices have reacted swiftly to the Opec move, pushing crude oil prices to their highest levels for a month, says BP managing director Peter Griffiths. The cost per barrel had doubled to $50 in anticipation of the news.
Further price rises could not be ruled out but BP would act quickly to drop them when international pressure eased, he said.
Other oil companies have decided to wait and see, at least until after the weekend.
The Automobile Association said the latest rise would return petrol prices to mid-December levels.
The Opec cuts, to take effect on February 1, are aimed at keeping crude prices firm ahead of an expected slowing in US economic growth and diminishing seasonal demand for refined products such as heating oil.
A resumption in exports from Iraq could pump 2.3 million barrels a day into the market and soften the impact of an Opec cut.
The cartel decided to cut production despite warnings from big Western energy users that steep cuts could dent a fragile world economy.
The price rise pushes petrol back over the $1 a litre mark and closes the Christmas-New Year period of discounting and snap specials. During the last 12 months premium petrol prices have been as low as 92c a litre and peaked at $1.22.
The fuel companies argued that their profits per litre were slim, and that the price rises were due to a weak NZ dollar and moves by oil nations to slash production.
- NZPA
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