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ference drew only a few hundred attendees until just a few years ago. The event has grown with the explosion of activity in North Dakota's oil patch, which lies within the Williston Basin, a 134,000 square-mile-area that includes the Dakotas, Montana and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
• The gem of the basin is the Bakken formation that encompasses some 25,000 square miles within the Williston Basin, about two-thirds of which is in western North Dakota. The oil is trapped in a thin layer of dense rock nearly two miles beneath the surface.
• The U.S. Geological Survey has called the Bakken formation it the largest continuous oil accumulation it has ever assessed.
• North Dakota's oil production has increased exponentially in the past decade with improved horizontal drilling techniques into the Bakken shale and the Three Forks formation below it.
• North Dakota was the ninth-largest oil-producing state in 2006, but has risen to No.3. The state is expected to surpass Alaska within a year, trailing on Texas.
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AP News in Brief
New 'super' PAC hopes to woo younger voters, tapping into unease about jobs, student loan debt
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama counted on the support of younger voters four years ago. Now, a new Republican-leaning "super" political committee wants to bring them to the GOP's side.
• Crossroads Generation, a new super PAC formed with the help of a handful of established GOP groups, is tapping into the economic frustrations of under-30 voters facing dim job prospects, crippling student loans or the prospect of having to move back home with their parents.
• Starting Monday, the PAC is launching a $50,000 social media ad campaign targeting younger voters in eight swing states, including Ohio and Virginia. Their ultimate goal: woo younger Americans to the Republican side, including some who supported Obama in 2008.
• "Younger voters aren't looking for a party label," said Kristen Soltis, who advises the new super PAC's communications. "They're looking for someone to present a solution for how things are going to get better."
• Crossroads Generation is drawing upon $750,000 in seed money from GOP organizations like the College Republicans, the Young Republicans, the Republican State Leadership Committee and American Crossroads -- itself a super PAC that (Continued on page 26)
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