Self-service petrol pumps across New Zealand were shuttered Thursday as several companies reported a leap year "software glitch" that left motorists stranded.

In the capital Wellington, some stations closed completely, leaving forecourts empty and customers confronted with signs reading "Nationwide Payment Outage - Site Unavailable".

"It is a nationwide issue affecting all fuel brands and it does appear to be a software glitch with the payment provider because it is Feb 29 -- a leap year," said spokesperson Julien Leys of petrol chain Gull.

Gull's rival Allied Petroleum reported a similar issue but added that "manned service stations (forecourts with a shop on site)" were slowly coming back online.

Another firm, Z, apologised to customers: "(We) want to reassure you that we are working closely with our third-party payment provider to resolve this issue as quickly as possible."