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Major fuel companies have followed BP in hiking prices overnight on the back of 25-year-record importing costs.
Mobil, Caltex and Shell have increased their petrol prices by five cents to the same level as BP.
All four companies are charging 168.9 cents for a litre of unleaded 91 and 119.9 for diesel.
BP was charging 121.9 for diesel yesterday, a rise of 5 cents, but has since dropped its price to come in line with other companies.
BP spokeswoman Greta Shirley said lower importing costs may have led to the price decrease.
"There's a number of factors we assess each day, a number of different factors. Importer prices is just one of them," she said.
Fuel company minnow Gull has this afternoon raised its prices to a cent below the industry majors, with 91 at 167.9 and diesel at 118.9 cents.
World oil prices leaped yesterday for the third time in as many trading days to their highest levels since the Iran-Iraq war compounded an international supply crisis in 1980 - at a time New Zealand motorists were enduring the "carless days" experiment in fuel restrictions.
A brief halt yesterday to one-fifth of Mexican production because of threatening weather added fuel to a rally on oil prices driven by a stand-off between Turkish troops and Kurdish PKK, a weak United States dollar and northern winter supply fears.
The kiwi continued to strengthen yesterday against the US greenback, to just over US77c. This morning the dollar was at 77.5 cents.
Automobile Association spokesman Mark Stockdale said BP's prices were 25c a litre higher than a year ago, and he was concerned motorists were facing a rising trend in the run-up to the holiday season.
"It is concerning because at this time of year, we'd normally see prices coming down," he said.
Ms Shirley said BP's import costs had risen 18 per cent since October 1. This compared with a lift in pump prices of 6 per cent, including yesterday's rise.
Her counterpart at Caltex, Sharon Buckland, indicated strong competitive pressures had kept others from following BP yesterday but said these would have to be reviewed today.
Mr Bodger said his imported petrol costs had risen by US$5 to US$6 a barrel in just two days, but he wanted to ensure that was part of a trend rather than just a "spike" before deciding on any changes to pump prices.
