Motorists across Tauranga say they are already feeling the squeeze as petrol prices continue to rise, with many bracing for the possibility of further increases in the days ahead.

Petrol prices have soared across the country with the conflict in the Middle East pushing up the price of oil.

Premium 95 petrol has surpassed $3 a litre in several locations.

And speaking on Ryan Bridge TODAY on Tuesday, Waitomo chief executive Simon Parham said it was still too early to predict just how high fuel prices might climb.

Tauranga residents say they are finding recent jumps in price increasingly hard to ignore.

Tauranga local Ange Haysh said the prices caught her off-guard.

“It’s going up pretty fast, pretty quick. I wish I had filled up last week.”

Another driver, Phil Barrett, said the increases had become impossible to ignore and had already changed his habits at the pump.

“I’ve been shopping around for petrol to try and find it the cheapest.”

Barrett said he had noticed a clear difference since last week.

SunLive visited 10 fuel outlets on Tuesday for a snapshot of petrol prices in Tauranga. It showed significant variation between stations, with the price for 91 varying by up to 33 cents.

Prices of petrol across a range of stations in Tauranga on March 10 between 10:30am and 1pm.

Between 10.30am and 1pm the cheapest 91 petrol our reporter observed was $2.62 per litre at Pak’nSave on Cameron Rd, while the most expensive was $2.95 at the BP on Waihi Rd.

Meanwhile, some premium fuels had already pushed past the $3 mark, with 98 petrol reaching $3.25 a litre at the BP in Waihi Rd and the Z on Cameron Rd also tipping past the threshold at $3.07 a litre.

Diesel prices across Tauranga ranged from $2.06 a litre at Pak’nSave Cameron Rd to $2.55 at BP Waihi, highlighting a nearly 50-cent difference between pumps.

Fuel prices continue to climb at stations across Tauranga.

It’s not just locals feeling the strain. Visitors travelling through the region are also noticing the impact.

American tourist Emerson Dyke, who has spent the past few months exploring New Zealand, arrived in Tauranga after driving down from Northland a couple of weeks ago.

She said the rising fuel costs became more noticeable in the past week.

She estimated it would now cost her around $150 to fill her diesel vehicle, an expense she would have to factor in as they continued their journey towards the South Island in the coming months.

Emerson Dyke filling up for her New Zealand road trip as fuel costs continue to rise. Photo / Zoe Blake

Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said most businesses and families could absorb a short‑term rise in fuel costs, but the strain would intensify if prices stayed elevated.

“If that happens, the pressure quickly shows up in business margins, higher prices for customers, and real stress on staff and families.”

He noted that many businesses were now better equipped than they were a few years ago, having adapted through the economic challenges of Covid‑19.

Even so, Cowley warned that it would hit hardest for those already operating on tight margins or facing reduced discretionary spending.

AA principal policy adviser Terry Collins told the Herald earlier this week that prices steadily crept up last week.

Collins said the pressure on oil prices was “going to go months, not weeks”.

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where approximately 20% of the world’s oil flowed, had largely halted.

“What you’ve got is a whole bunch of ships sitting around there with a full cargo and the production sites are going to have to start closing down because they’re going to run out of storage,” Collins said.

Transporting New Zealand policy and advocacy adviser Mark Stockdale said the national industry association for road freight remained in “daily contact” with major fuel importers as it monitored developments in global fuel markets.

Stockdale said they had been speaking regularly with companies including Z, BP and Mobil, which had advised there were “no supply issues” sourcing refined fuel for New Zealand.

He said the brief price surge in global oil appeared to have been driven largely by “panic in the market” over potential supply disruptions, particularly concerns about oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Stockdale said as a rough rule, a US$1 increase in the oil price per barrel equated to about a 1c increase at the pump, meaning sustained increases would quickly flow through freight costs and eventually the price of goods.

New Zealand sourced most of its refined fuel from refineries in Asia, which were not reporting supply problems, he said.

Instead, refineries were reporting an increase in demand for fuel internationally.

Stockdale said New Zealand had about 24 days of diesel supply in the country, with a further 29 days on the water heading to New Zealand.

While supply remained stable, he said higher oil prices still affected freight companies because fuel was a significant component of freight costs, meaning increases were likely to flow through the supply chain and eventually be reflected in the price of goods consumers pay.

Zoe Blake is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post.