“Brace yourself because it’s coming,” said the NRMA’s Peter Khoury of even higher prices.

On Monday the average price for a litre of regular unleaded petrol in the Illawarra was 149.9 cents – by Tuesday morning, that had shot up to 158 cents.

“Hopefully you won’t get as high as $1.62 [the Sydney average] but I fear those prices will go up in Wollongong. Get in now, especially with the long weekend coming, because it’s not going to go down,” Mr Khoury said.

Across the region, the highest price for regular unleaded was whopping 167.9 cents per litre.

Numerous stations north and south of the city have already posted that price on their roadside boards.

READ MORE: Northern suburbs motorists getting stung

Mr Khoury said he didn’t expect those prices at the high end to climb any higher and break the $1.70-cent ceiling.

“Anyone at $167.9 definitely shouldn’t be going any higher,” Mr Khoury said.

“They’ve already cashed in on the cycle.

“No one should be filling up at 167.9 now anywhere in Wollongong.

“If they went any higher the argument would be even stronger to find those cheaper servos.”

The price rises are likely to be seen at the stations now offering cheaper prices – the lowest on Tuesday was 139.9 cents while plenty are still offering regular unleaded at prices just under 150 cents per litre.

“I think the message is really clear, fill up now,” he said.

“There’s a pretty decent spread right now in Wollongong.

“Fill up now because the chances of getting a bargain are potentially going to be diminished over the next few days. The prices are already high enough and our fear is the average price might go up – but we would be stunned if those expensive servos went any higher.”

He recommended using the NRMA fuel app or the state government’s Fuel Check app to search for the cheapest petrol.

The common conspiracy theory around petrol prices is that fuel companies always put them up ahead of a long weekend.

However, Mr Khoury said the factors for this latest hike are the same ones that have been with us all year.

“You’ve just got the perfect storm,” he said.

“You’ve got increasing oil prices, the falling Aussie dollar and the factors causing the rising prices don’t look like they’re going to go anywhere any time soon.

“It’s tensions in the Middle East, it’s trade wars between China and the United States and sanctions against Russia and Iran.”