Motorists react as Wagga petrol prices rise above $2 at service stations

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and ongoing supply issues are continuing to drive up prices, putting the squeeze on businesses and everyday drivers.

Jake Hindmarsh has to drive back and forth across Wagga for his local garden care service, with fill-ups becoming more daunting every day.

"It's gone from costing $150 to fill my machines ... to nearly $200 to keep everything going," he said.

The surge has pushed Mr Hindmarsh to increase the cost of his services in a bid to keep the business viable.

South Wagga Butchery owner Liam Hanigan delivers meat to customers as far away as Coolamon.

He says the rising cost of fuel is frustrating but simply unavoidable.

"It is what it is - if it goes to $3 I'm still buying it," Mr Hanigan said.

Many motorists who were once trigger happy at the bowser have been forced into more frugal mindsets.

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Tolland resident Robyn Gage says she used to stick to Unleaded 95, but the spike has made her downgrade to Unleaded 91.

Ms Gage said she "never used to check" prices before choosing a service station but now sees it as necessary to avoid an exorbitant payment.

The cost of diesel has surged to nearly $2.07 at some Wagga servos, a price point which meant Brad Hoffman paid nearly $240 to fill his work vehicle.

The Canberra resident drives over 900 kilometres each week for work and said his brief stop in Wagga was only the second time he has had to pay such a price.

"If you need fuel you've got to pay the price, there's not much you can do about it," he said.

The price of petrol has soared off the back of global uncertainty over escalating sanctions against Russia, one of the world's biggest petrol producers.

NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said the current prices in Wagga are record highs and will likely continue rising.

"Unfortunately, we do expect average prices to get to over $2 a litre and it's basically driven off what we've been seeing globally," he said.

"They are record prices in Wagga, they are record prices nationally."

Mr Khoury said the rising costs will hit regional communities where "diesel is king" particularly hard.

"Farming, mining, agriculture, and in addition to that, people in regional areas tend to drive larger vehicles," he said.

One potential outcome from the rising cost could be electric vehicles becoming more appealing to everyday users, Mr Khoury suggested.

"Australians are notoriously slow at changing up their vehicles but we will see more electric vehicles on the road in the years to come," he said.

"That's going to be a good thing, because the electricity that we charge our vehicles from is Australian made and that fuel that we import is not."

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