* EconMin could hike duty to 90 pct of the fee on crude oil * The fee could be increased to $415.5/T from $271.4/T in March * Existing plans foresee equal fuel oil and crude oil fee by 2015 * Russia's budget deficit revised up two-fold in Jan-Feb * Russia exports 55 million tonnes of fuel oil annually (Adds detail, background) By Olesya Astakhova and Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW, March 15 (Reuters) - Russia may increase its fuel oil export duty to 90 percent of the fee on crude oil, from the current 66 percent, starting in April or May amid its burgeoning budget deficit, three government sources told Reuters on Thursday. If the increase is implemented as early as April, the fuel oil export duty would jump to around $415 per tonne from $271.4 per tonne in March. One government source said a cabinet meeting on the fuel oil duty was currently underway. Russia exports 55 million tonnes of the product a year. "It (the rise) may happen as early as April," the source said, adding the Economy Ministry believed the current tax has failed to generate the "expected" budget revenues. The proposal to increase the tax came after Russia saw a budget deficit spike in January-February to 245.3 billion roubles ($8.3 billion), following a boost in spending in the run-up to the March election that returned Vladimir Putin to the president seat. The deficit amounted to 3 percent of gross domestic product, compared with the expected 1.5 percent for the whole of 2012. Economists have warned the pre-election spending surge could fuel inflation and complicate the government's efforts to lower its dependence on high oil prices. Last October, Russia introduced a new crude oil and oil product export duty regime - dubbed "60/66" as it cut the crude duty to 60 percent, with most oil product duties set at 66 percent of the duty on crude - in order to boost production of oil and high-grade refined products. The export fee for gasoline and naphtha had already been set at 90 percent of crude oil duty since last May when the government was tackling fuel shortages on the domestic market. It has been envisaged that crude oil and fuel oil will be subject to equal export duty by 2015. "Our minister proposed to hike the fee due to the market situation, including the rise in oil prices," another source at the Energy Ministry said. "Looks like the increase will come into force starting from May, not next month," the source added. (Reporting by Olesya Astakhova and Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Maria Kiselyova and Alison Birrane)

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