Petrol prices are just over a cent off an all-time high following an overnight 3c a litre hike.

The price of crude oil collapsed in the face of the global economic recession to $37 per barrel, but is now hovering around the $70 mark – so what’s likely to happen to pump prices over the next 6 months?

One positive effect of New Zealand’s naggingly high dollar this year has been to offset a large part of the rise in crude oil Petrol Watch spokesman Mark Stockdale said.

Crude oil has hit a five-month low of $61.95 on the back of growing concerns over the weakening global demand in developed - and developing countries, outweighing the production cuts announced by Opec over the weekend.

Canadian-listed New Zealand company Trans Orient Petroleum’s announcement today that it has found “at least” 12.6 billion barrels of oil on the East Coast should be taken with a grain of salt according to industry insiders.

The company released an assessment that oil available from 10% of their 890,000 hectare fractured oil shale East Coast Basin is worth 12.6 billion barrels and compared it to the 50 million barrels estimated in the Tui field.

The price of oil has risen to $US75.46 a barrel on the NYMEX today, as traders weigh up a likely Opec cut against the depth and length of the coming recession.

Last week Opec released its monthly report, which forecast global demand for crude to sink by roughly 900,000 barrels per day, “at the same time as around one million barrels per day of oil is expected to hit the market from non-Opec companies.”

The price of crude oil had sunk to $US73.52 today on escalating fears of a global recession, half of its peak of $US147.27 a barrel on July 11 and the lowest price since August last year.

Commodities across the board tumbled as Opec slashed its 2009 demand forecast, and oil traders looking at the stock market as a barometer of economic health are pricing a recession into the market, despite central bank and government moves to free up credit markets.