Motorists in some parts of New Zealand are being charged more than $4 a litre for 95 petrol.

BP in New Lynn, Auckland, on Friday was advertising $4.11 a litre. 91 was $3.89.

Gaspy said the average across the country was $3.80, up 11% over 28 days.

91 had reached an average price of $3.61 a litre, and diesel $3.23.

AA spokesperson Terry Collins said there were a handful of places charging more than $4, but many were just under.

He said it seemed like a psychological barrier that petrol stations did not want to cross.

He did not expect much fuel price relief soon, saying even when oil prices fell, there was more demand expected next year, which would keep pressure on.

"Higher fuel demand will mean higher prices."

He expected fuel prices to stay high until at least Christmas.

Card spending data showed fuel spending on fuel lifted 2.9% over the month of September.

ANZ noted that freight costs were "exceptionally high", and that, combined with a weak New Zealand dollar, was keeping the import cost up for New Zealand motorists.

Senior economist Miles Workman agreed there were few reasons to expect a drop any time soon.

"We look at crack spreads, we look at the New Zealand dollar, we look at global oil prices and shipping costs as well, and we put all those components together and they're really still not showing any sign of going the right way in the near term.

"In terms of how things evolve towards the end of the year, it's really going to depend on what happens in the Middle East and whether or not there is some light at the end of the tunnel in so far as the actual conflict is concerned.

"But even if there was a resolution to conflict in the Middle East soon, it would still take quite some time for this lost oil production to get back to where it was.
“Once you cap off a mine, to get them flowing again, it can take a while. And then of course you've got a potential rebuilding inventories phase that we're still yet to go through."

He said a lot of economies had released stocks of fuel and might need to rebuild those in future.

"Given how uncertain the world is becoming, you could even argue that maybe when they do look to rebuild those stocks, they rebuild them to a higher level than before.

"So what does that all mean for demand and supply? It does suggest that price pressures could remain elevated for quite a while yet."