Russia's oil and gas revenue down 43% y/y in March, finance ministry says

MOSCOW, April 3 (Reuters) - Russian state oil and gas revenues declined in March by 43% to 617 billion roubles ($7.72 billion) from the same month a year ago, according to finance ministry data published on Friday, due to lower oil prices and a stronger rouble.

Oil and gas revenues are crucial for Russia's state budget, which ran a deficit of 5.6 trillion roubles or 2.6% of gross domestic product in 2025 amid high military spendings. The revenue accounts for around a quarter of total budget proceeds.

Revenue rose from 432.3 billion roubles in February.

The revenues are based on payments made by Russian companies by March 30 and relate to production in February, before the global oil prices surged due to the US-Israeli war in Iran. The proceeds are expected to increase starting from April.

In the first quarter of the year, the revenue reached 1.44 trillion roubles, down 45% from the same period in 2025.

The budget forecasts income of 8.92 trillion roubles from oil and gas sales this year, while the pace of proceeds is now behind this goal.

($1 = 79.9000 roubles)