As the global price of oil climbs, so too is the cost of filling up your car – just in time for Labour Weekend.

Regular petrol is now $1.989 a litre after the major fuel companies raised their prices by 2 cents a litre on Monday night – the third increase in a week which has seen prices raised by 7c a litre.

Motorists in major areas of New Zealand have not paid $2 a litre for regular petrol for about a year. The price reflects the basic pump price at most petrol stations in major cities, especially where Gull does not operate.

Petrol prices are driven principally by the strength of the New Zealand dollar and the price of crude oil, amongst other factors.

Over recent weeks the Kiwi dollar has been weakening, while the Brent crude price - the international benchmark for crude prices - hit US$50 a barrel.

Brent cude prices has been slowly increasing in recent weeks after Opec, a cartel of oil producing countries, promised to cut production to raise prices, reports Fairfax.