Oil companies are forging ahead with a plan to import more fuels to minimise disruption from planned strike action at NZ's only oil refinery.

Saudi Arabia will need to keep cutting oil output to sustain prices above $100 a barrel as global oil demand weakens, analysts say.

The European Union will strike at the heart of Russia's economy by extending sanctions to block all investment in the country's oil companies.

A reader writes: Why is petrol at the pump priced to the third decimal place - a thousandth of a cent?

Oil and gas exploration and development spending was up 7 per cent last year to almost $1.6b, according to the latest official figures which also show a big jump in gas reserves.

Despite all the talk of action against Vladimir Putin, Exxon Mobil, the largest US energy company is undeterred, starting work on $700m oil well in the Arctic.

Energy companies are taking their controversial fracking operations from the land to the sea - to deep waters off the US, South American and African coasts.

A "small number" of BP New Zealand's trucks have been recalled for inspection following an incident in Australia in which three people died.

The Green Party is angry that the Government forked out $22,000 on food and drink and $37,000 on luxury accommodation.

Energy Minister Simon Bridges is defending a $240,000 bill for taxpayers to wine and dine 11 oil executives during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The Green Party announced plans to immediately ban deep sea drilling around NZ’s coast if the Greens form the next government.

Z Energy says margins have risen due to fuel retailers trying to recoup up to $40m they've had to pay to top up losses at Marsden Point oil refinery.

Fierce discounting by fuel companies in parts of Auckland has seen a wild variation in prices — of up to 25c a litre of petrol — across the region.

A company owned by the Gloriavale Christian Community expects to drill a new oil well this spring with a rig that has recently arrived from Korea.

The US will remain the world's biggest oil producer this year after overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia as extraction of energy from shale rock spurs the nation's economic recovery.

Petrol price is driving people to service stations that offer discounts or savings schemes - and more commuters are taking public transport.

The high New Zealand dollar is insulating this country from rising crude oil prices that have spurred fears for the global economic recovery.

Escalating violence in Iraq threatens to unleash an oil price spike that would put an end to the greatest period of price stability for nearly half a century, BP's chief economist has warned.

Liam Dann asks, "What sort of economic fallout can we expect if Baghdad falls? It is a question that has carried serious geopolitical weight for thousands of years."

Escalating violence in Iraq has spooked world sharemarkets and pushed up oil to its highest price in nine months.

Germany has rejected genetically modified crops, nuclear power and magnetic levitation trains. Now, the country is adding fracking to the list of innovations it's wary of.

Plans by Norwegian oil giant Statoil to explore off the Northland coast are moving closer with the visit of a top executive to the area this week.

The oil and gas industry is suddenly brimming with upstart millennials after decades of failing to attract and retain new entrants.

China has signed a long-awaited deal for Russian natural gas, giving China a new energy source and Russia a diplomatic boost.

China is stockpiling oil for its strategic petroleum reserve at a record pace, intervening on a scale large enough to send a powerful pulse through the world crude market.

A hopelessly one-sided conflict will be renewed in Ruakaka, Northland, on Thursday.

Cheniere Energy's Charif Souki emerged as the highest paid US executive in 2013, receiving $142 million.

Last week, the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell was visiting Putin's residence, saying, "We are very keen to grow our position in the Russian Federation."