Petrol prices have surged across Australia after US President Joe Biden imposed economic and financial sanctions against Russia for its invasion into Ukraine.
The latest effort included a ban on Russian imports of oil and gas and that's causing major headaches for Aussies at the bowser.
National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) spokesperson Peter Khoury said that although the ban on Russia's imports won't impact Australia's oil supply, motorists can still expect petrol prices to rise further.
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Khoury urged motorists to ‘get out and fill up now’ as in many regions across Australia, have already started to exceed the $2 per litre average mark.
One person even posted on social media that the price of petrol at one station managed to climb into the $3 per litre mark.
"It is absolutely critical that people go and fill up now because we will see significant increases in the coming day, possibly hours,” he said.
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"Our concern is that the increases we have seen with global oil prices in the last week alone going upwards of $10 a barrel are going to start to flow on here in Australia."
He also stated Australia would see ‘record prices’ in the days and weeks to come.
Tasmania was the first state to see petrol prices increase. The state was quickly followed by Perth, which hit the $2 per litre average mark and is currently standing at $2.08 per litre.
Sydney is currently at an average price $1.80 per litre, while Melbourne has exceeded $1.92 per litre.
The surge of petrol prices across the nation comes after President Biden’s announcement this week that the US ‘will not be part of subsiding Putin’s war’, leading him to ban all imports of Russian oil.
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At a White House Briefing, Biden said: "We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas energy."
"That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable in US ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine."
The US President also added: “Defending freedom is going to cost, it’s going to cost us as well … and with this action, it’s going to go up further.”
The UK has also announced they would be banning imports of Russia's gas and will try to phase out all imports by the end of 2022,.
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"In another economic blow to the Putin regime following their illegal invasion of Ukraine, the UK will move away from dependence on Russian oil throughout this year," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.
"Working with industry, we are confident that this can be achieved over the course of the year, providing enough time for companies to adjust and ensuring consumers are protected."
Charisa Bossinakis