By Kaye Albyt and Pretoria Gordon of RNZ

Several Gull petrol stations have run dry for the second time in three days, as motorists worry about rising prices and supplies.

And 91-octane petrol has tipped over the $3-a-litre mark in some areas because of the conflict in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump is calling for countries to send ships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed as Iran launches attacks to halt maritime traffic.

The area is critical because around 20% of the world’s oil consumption, or 20 million barrels a day, usually pass through it.

Gull has 113 petrol stations, mostly in the North Island and it said it was very busy on Sunday.

Locals said the self-serve Gull petrol station at Rosebank roundabout in West Auckland ran out of fuel on Saturday night and the Gull at Rosebank East had a sign up saying “no fuel”.

Gull says there is still plenty of fuel for everyone in Auckland the rest of the country. Photo / RNZ, Pretoria Gordon

Meanwhile, the Tasman petrol station in Epsom was offering unleaded petrol at $2.72 on Saturday and had a sign on the pumps saying “no petrol containers”.

Locals and store workers

Lloyd McInnes goes to the self-serve Gull petrol station on the Rosebank Road roundabout every week and was surprised to see a message saying the pump was unavailable.

“Today’s the very first time ever that they’ve said they don’t have any for me. I expected a price increase, but I did not expect to not be able to buy any,” McInnes said.

“Apparently this is throughout Gulls in West Auckland ... they seem to be the one with the most issues, so now I’m going to head to another brand to get some petrol.”

Meanwhile, the Coffee and Convenience store, not managed by Gull, put up signage itself as the worker inside (who did not wish to be named) told RNZ the team had copped a lot of abuse as a result.

He said he wasn’t sure when the fuel had run out.

The Tasman petrol station in Epsom, which was offering unleaded petrol at $2.72 on Saturday, also had a sign on the pumps saying “no petrol containers”.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise’s most recent assessment of New Zealand’s current fuel stock level was published on its website a week ago and said at that point, New Zealand had 52 days’ cover of petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

Gull responds

In response, Gull told RNZ that customers continued to “flock to our stations in search of fair fuel prices”.

It said the high demand was running some of their network to run dry.

“Some of our logistics providers are struggling to meet the current 15%-plus increase in demand.

“Gull has good levels of fuel at its terminal and is working as fast as practical with our logistics’ providers to get fuel to our sites to meet Gull’s customers increased demand.”

The fuel company said there was still plenty of fuel for everyone in Auckland and the rest of the country.

– RNZ