It's true. I live in Cleveland and I met a guy on public transit a couple years back that I struck up conversation with because he was wearing a cowboy hat and boots and was clearly out of his element. He told me he was in town for an oil conference and told me all about the Bakken region and the mad rush of companies looking to get a piece of the pie.

Essentially, once the oil basin was discovered, all the major US oil producers stormed the region and immediately began setting up shop. As a result, they also offered massive salaries for anyone willing to come up and work, especially young guys. He told me the major draw at first was truck drivers, who were making six-figures easily (side note: the roads in and out of town were decimated due to the amount of trucking passing through). Obviously the first ones to get established are going to get the most benefit from fracking the region, so it's easy to see why they offered such outrageous salaries.

Likewise, I remember him telling me about how there was absolutely nothing to do up there besides hit the bar, so that also pushes salaries higher.

I know software (and its wages) is the all-powerful blood of the Earth, according to HN, but don't be so skeptical of the power of supply and demand.