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FAIRBANKS - An Alaska Native corporation and three partners plan to spend millions to drill an exploration hole in the Nenana Basin, estimated to hold 1 to 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The project took to the road Tuesday as the Arctic Wolf drilling rig left Fairbanks in a slow caravan of tractor-trailers destined for the basin.

The Arctic Wolf rig was designed to work efficiently in arctic conditions. It breaks down into multiple modules for quick transport, maximizing the narrow windows drillers have on seasonal ice roads.

The orange rig was brought down from a North Slope pad in May, and will be moved to Nenana in about 50 loads, strapped onto broad trailers with 4-inch-wide tie-downs and accompanied by oversized load pilot cars.

Doyon Ltd. and partners plan to sink $15 million into an exploration hole 10,500 to 11,000 feet deep. For the next week or so, rig parts will wind down the Parks Highway, then be barged across the Nenana River to the drill site.

Jim Mery, a Doyon vice president, expects the roughly 40-day drill program to launch within two weeks in the 500,000-acre area.

A substantial gas find in Nenana could bring natural gas to Fairbanks. It also could bring power generation to the Railbelt and advance of an in-state or large-diameter pipeline.

In addition to gas, the basin holds an estimated 250 million to 750 million barrels of oil. Mery said the prospects for propane are solid.

Propane is one of several resources that comes out of the ground as a diesel alternative that can be barged to villages along Alaska's river systems.

"It's an ideal place to find propane," Mery said.

About seven years ago, Doyon acquired seismic studies from drill holes in the 1970s. With partners Usibelli Energy, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and Denver-based Rampart Energy, Doyon hopes to validate the seismic and other studies and hit gas.