The Ute Indian Tribe on Friday signed an agreement with three energy producers to develop 146,000 acres of land on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in eastern Utah.

The land will be leased by Bill Barrett Corp., Newfield Production Co. and Dominion Exploration & Production Co. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Ute Tribe will have an option to participate in a 20 percent to 50 percent working interest in all wells developed on the lands, the company said in a prepared statement.

Bill Barrett Corp. will focus its development on 99,000 acres of the Blacktail Ridge, which is located in the Altamont-Bluebell Field. That field has produced more than 197 million barrels of oil and 177 billion cubic feet of gas.

Newfield will develop 47,000 acres of the Monument Butte area. Dominion will cover a 160-acre tract in the Little Canyon area.

The 146,000 acres of new development will join 236,000 acres of tribal lands already under development.

"The tribe retained not only its royalty interest that it has had historically, but it retains the right to participate in development," said John Jurrius, financial advisor to the Ute Tribe and chief executive of Ute Energy LLC. "Since forming its energy company, they are not only having their lands developed by producers, they are also developing their lands themselves."

Since the formation of Ute Energy in 2005, the tribe has participated in the drilling of roughly 70 oil and natural gas wells. The wells are producing about 1,000 barrels of oil and 3 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Energy development has been occurring on the reservation since the 1940s. The tribe has a royalty interest in another 430 wells.

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