BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Gov. Jack Dalrymple said his proposed budget for road construction and repairs in northwestern North Dakota's oil-producing region may make it unnecessary to reopen an oil tax revenue sharing agreement with the Three Affiliated Tribes.

“I think it would be preferable if we could get resources to them in other ways,” Dalrymple said.

The tribes' chairman, Tex Hall, has told lawmakers the agreement should be reworked to provide more revenue to maintain the tribes' own road network, which is used by heavy trucks that have accompanied increased oil drilling on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

Since July 2008, the state has collected $43.7 million from the agreement, with the tribe getting $19.1 million, state Tax Department records show. The state's cut also is shared with local governments.

The Legislature authorized then-Gov. John Hoeven to negotiate the agreement four years ago.

A two-year accord was signed by Hoeven and Hall's predecessor, Marcus Levings, in June 2008. Hoeven and Levings signed an indefinite extension in January 2010.

The agreement specifies how oil production is taxed on trust lands, which are tribal lands held in trust for the benefit of the tribe or individual tribal members, and fee land, which is privately owned. It outlines how oil tax revenues are to be shared by the state and tribe.

It allows either the state or tribe to terminate the agreement with 30 days' notice, provided the tribe and state first attempt to resolve any differences.

Dalrymple met with Hall and a number of tribal officials in his office last Thursday, when Hall delivered a speech to the North Dakota Legislature as a representative of North Dakota's four American Indian tribal governments.

Dalrymple said he briefed the group on the details of his budget recommendations to the Legislature, which includes $371 million from a state oil tax fund for reconstruction and repair of state and county roads in western North Dakota's oil-producing region.

“We kind of left it that we would study the entire picture with them, we would show them what we can do, we would talk about a plan to get some more federal funds, and then we would see whether we need to talk about the tax agreement or not,” Dalrymple said.

Hall said in a statement Jan. 10 that the Fort Berthold reservation has more than 1,000 miles of Bureau of Indian Affairs roads. Repair money for them is scarce, and the tax agreement needs to be revisited, he said.

Negotiating a new agreement could be difficult. The Legislature set out the parameters for the original accord, and lawmakers probably would want to have a say in any renegotiation, Dalrymple said.

“We don't want to get ahead of ourselves,” the governor said. “We feel this can be worked out without having to reopen the agreement.”