Large quantities of diesel and petrol have been reported stolen from vehicles and petrol tanks in Kakanui, Palmerston, Cromwell and Roxburgh in the past month.
Oamaru police dealt with the thefts of 1200 litres of diesel at Kakanui, an incident in Palmerston in which about 400 litres of diesel was spilled during an attempt to siphon fuel from a truck and two thefts of petrol from cars in Hampden, along with incidents of petrol "drive-offs" from service stations, Southern Rural Life reported.
In Cromwell, the Otago Polytechnic Horticultural Centre in Bannockburn Rd was hit twice - the first time when petrol hit $2 a litre and the second on Wednesday when 100 litres of petrol was taken from a tank the same day petrol reached $2.20 a litre.
In Roxburgh, farmers have been warned by police to lock fuel tanks and check them regularly after thefts from farm and orchard tanks.
Senior Sergeant Mike Cook, of Alexandra, said it was only a matter of time before thieves targeted Alexandra as well, and warned Central Otago people to lock fuel tanks and be "extra vigilant" when leaving vehicles unattended, especially construction vehicles left overnight on vacant sites.
In North Otago, Senior Constable Bruce Dow, of Oamaru, said ingenious ways of stealing fuel would rise as the cost increased.
While there was no significant increase in the number of fuel thefts reported to police, crime analysts in Oamaru and Dunedin said some thefts were going unreported.
Sergeant Tony Ritchie, of the Dunedin police intelligence unit, said there was a spate of number-plate thefts in Dunedin about March, but there had been no reports lately.
Christchurch police this week reported a recent increase in number-plate thefts, saying the plates were being used by thieves while carrying out "drive-off" thefts from petrol stations.
About four petrol thefts were reported in Dunedin each month and police had not noticed any significant rise in the practice. Usually, between $80 to $100 of petrol was taken. He could only think of one instance recently where a stolen plate was used for a petrol "drive-off".
However, thefts from private vehicles were occurring.
Dunedin man Jim Falconer said he was enraged when someone siphoned petrol out of his car's tank while it was sitting in front of his Northeast Valley house last Saturday night.
In the Clutha area, police have not noticed an increase in petrol thefts, but a spokesman said people should report any suspicious activity immediately.
Further south, in Winton, Detective Dougal Henderson said petrol was used like a currency in the criminal fraternity in times of high fuel prices. It was stolen and then exchanged or sold on the black market.
Fuel had recently been stolen from contractors' and transport operators' fuel tanks or machinery stored at yards or work sites.
• Last week, the AA reported it had noticed more people running out of petrol. Callouts by AA members who had run out while driving were up 3.3% for the year to date, AA spokesman Simon Lambourne said.
