These figures put petrol prices on par with the high levels seen before the impact of the pandemic.
AA motoring affairs spokesman Mike Noon notes that fuel prices do, however, vary from region to region due to competition.
"Prices have become increasingly variable between regions or even within towns and suburbs," he says.
"This makes a 'national' price figure less-and-less meaningful and often quite different to what motorists are experiencing at their local service stations. For instance today we can see regular petrol at $2.07 at some sites in Wellington and $2.18 in Auckland, which includes the 11cent regional fuel tax.
"In the South Island pricing has become increasingly competitive and overall the premium that the South Island used to pay is not evident anymore with prices around $2.05 at some sites today."
Global factors have also had a major impact on petrol prices over the last 18 months.
As Covid-19 spread across the world, demand for oil dropped significantly as the need for transportation dropped with people confined to their homes.
This led to a massive drop in oil prices, with the price of crude sitting as low as US$18.43 per barrel at one stage during the pandemic, according to the MBIE data.
With the rollout of vaccines and the steady relaxation of lockdown conditions, demand has returned and the price of oil has steadily increased.
This has had the knock-on effect of steadily increasing prices at pumps.
This week, the price of oil broke the $70 threshold since May 2019.
Oil analysts have noted that these increases come while the market is still depressed, given air travel hasn't come close to pre-pandemic levels.
As a greater number of airlines reintroduce routes, the demand for oil will only increase.
The Financial Times has reported that Opec and other large oil producers, which have been curtailing production during the pandemic due to the fall in demand, are starting to add barrels back to the market as consumption improves.
However, it is unclear at this stage whether they hold enough spare capacity should demand start to rise significantly above its pre-pandemic level of about 100m barrels a day.
The Financial Times went on to note that given the continued uncertainty in the market, oil demand is likely to fluctuate in the coming year.
This also comes amid growing concerns about the spectre of inflation both here and abroad.
Data out of the US overnight showed consumer prices rose 5 per cent year-on-year in May which is the highest inflation amount since August 2008 in the US. Excluding food and energy, core inflation rose 3.8 per cent, the greatest increase in almost 30 years.
In May, Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr said the RBNZ saw New Zealand inflation reaching 2.6 per cent in the second quarter of this year.
The inflationary pressure has led to forecasts that the Reserve Bank may need to increase interest rates to head off inflation in the coming year.
RBNZ's forecasts now suggest it is on track to begin lifting the official cash rate in the second half of 2022.
