Corporate-service prices rose in December at close to their fastest pace in 15 years, as higher oil costs prompted businesses to charge clients more.

The prices that companies pay for services such as transportation and rent climbed 1.4 percent from a year earlier, the same pace as October and November and near a 15-year high of 1.5 percent reached in May and June, the Bank of Japan said Monday.

Crude oil exceeded $100 a barrel for the first time this month, squeezing profits and increasing shipping costs. Record gasoline prices helped a key gauge of retail inflation quicken to the fastest pace in almost a decade in December.

Prices companies pay for transportation rose 6.7 percent, according to the BOJ report. Ocean freight charges advanced 25.9 percent.