North Dakota Finances Exceed -- Really Exceed -- Expectations -- All About the Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Bismarck says it isn't all about the Bakken, but that's a stretch. It's all about the Bakken.

Dickinson Press link here. (Some numbers rounded.)

The general fund’s projected ending balance for June 30, 2013, is $383.2 million, a jump from the $51 million ending balance projected when the Legislature adjourned this spring. 

Did I read that correctly? The original projection earlier this spring was $50 million, and now, less than six months later, new projections put the balance at almost $400 million.

This miss, if I'm reading this correctly, and it's possibly I'm misreading it, suggests to me that Bismarck and the eastern part of the state have no clue about the Bakken boom and potential. A $50 million projection turns into a $400 million projects just a few months later. Say what?