Rising petrol prices are costing businesses, resulting in slowed service and increased cost to customers

According to FuelPrice Australia, the average petrol price in Ballarat on Tuesday was $2.22 and $2.02 per litre for diesel and unleaded fuel respectively.

Owner at Boronia Exclusive Flowers Julie Collins said her small business, which offers a floral delivery service, had inflated delivery fees to keep up.

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"We've never seen anything like this ... we've seen small increases over the years but not such a big dramatic price increase, we just can't absorb all that cost," she said.

The rise is a by-product of the Russian-Ukraine war, which has seen countries across the globe place sanctions on Russian exports, including oil.

As one of the biggest oil producers in the world, any disruptions have major impacts and fuel prices are widely expected to further climb to around $2.50 per litre.

Ms Collins said she hoped customers would understand the decision to raise delivery prices.

"We're all aware of what's going on over in Ukraine and how it's affecting us here and hopefully people are understanding we're not doing it as a profit - we're just doing it to cover our costs," she said.

Ballarat builders Stroud Homes director Simon Walshe said his industry was already feeling the squeeze from the COVID-19 pandemic - and with material shortages and costs of builds already high, the hike could further compound costs passed on to clients.

For regional customers especially, Mr Walshe said the increased cost of fuel may slow delivery of jobs.

"It will have an effect on them - whether you need to attend that site that day for that small thing to check, [or] you wait until you've got a bigger reason to go," he said.

"Builds all the way around Ballarat that are half an hour, 45 minutes up to an hour drive away, so adding that travel component, trades and suppliers will definitely be affected and potentially, [tradespeople] would say, 'I don't want to go because it's going to cost me too much to drive there'."

Mr Walshe said it was not only increased business costs impacted by the rise, with tradespeople on the ground further shouldering the burden.

"For example, a first year apprentice could be now spending upwards of a third of our wage on a tank of fuel every week, so these sort of things definitely affect those young fellas who are trying to come through," he said.

Ballarat Taxis' chief executive Stephen Armstrong said in the taxi industry, where costs are regulated and unable to be passed on to passengers, drivers were wearing an "enormous" impact.

"That all depends on how many shifts they do, and how often the cars on the road, but early signs are at this point in time are they're spending an extra $80 to $90 a week, which is obviously directly out of their profit and out of their pockets," he said.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the intergovernmental coalition that controls the levels of oil production for an estimated 44 per cent of global oil production and 81.5 per cent of global oil reserves, has previously rebuked international calls to increase oil production.

Mr Armstrong said he had been watching OPEC decisions closely, and said even if production did increase, it would take up to a fortnight for Ballarat to see a drop in petrol prices.

"We're hoping that may happen soon, so there is a bit of hope that the prices will start to drop as soon as they start producing more," he said.

"Because we all work out in the world parody prices, by the time that flows back into the actual service stations that can take between seven and 14 days."

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