In 1928, a group of Minot laboring citizen (mostly railroad men) began to investigate the possibilities of organizing a cooperative oil company. They had been trying to operate a cooperative store and when it became a stock company instead of a cooperative and failed, the original promoters began to look at the very high margins in petroleum products. They found that gasoline cost 4 cents per gallon plus 7 cents freight and that it was selling for 25 cents to 27 cents per gallon. This group invited several farmers to join them and in 1928 they incorporated under the name of the Minot Cooperative Oil Company. On June 28, 1928 the incorporators met, adopted By-Laws, and elected a Board of Directors. Each prospective member was sold two shares of stock at $25.00 each. In July 1928 the North Dakota Farmers Union put their stamp of approval on the new cooperative. The first stockholders meeting was held November 10, 1928 with 92 members present.
Today, nearly a century later, the cooperative is still going strong. Still owned by the patrons and operated by a local producer board, decisions for the cooperative are made locally, right here in Minot. Enerbase now owns and operates twelve Cenex-branded convenience stores and is a major supplier of Cenex fuels, lubricants and propane to area businesses and producers. The Minot facility also boasts an extensive parts department for agricultural producers as well as a hardware store and car care center.
Enerbase is also one of three parent cooperatives of Dakota Agronomy Partners, an agronomy LLC that was formed in 1999. Dakota Agronomy Partners services producers in central North Dakota with 28 agronomy sites that stretch from the Canadian border down to Washburn including three dry fertilizer mega plants in Bowbells, Bottineau and Minot.