Russia's monthly oil, gas revenue poised to hit lowest since August

MOSCOW, Dec 12 (Reuters): Russian state oil and gas revenue in December is likely to almost halve from a year earlier to 410 billion roubles ($5.17 billion) as a result of lower crude prices and a stronger rouble, Reuters calculations showed on Friday.

Oil and gas revenue is the leading source of cash for the Kremlin, making up a quarter of federal budget proceeds that have been drained by heavy defence and security spending since Russia began its military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022.

For the entire year, the revenue is set to fall by almost a quarter to 8.44 trillion roubles, below the Finance Ministry's 8.65 trillion rouble forecast, according to calculations based on data from industry sources and official statistics on production, refining and supplies.

Russia reported its lowest monthly oil and gas revenue of 405 billion roubles in August 2020, when oil prices tumbled during the COVID-19 pandemic.