2.2.0.25falsefalse006010 - Disclosure - Nature of Operationstruefalsefalse1falsefalseUSDfalsefalse1/1/2010 - 12/31/2010
USD ($)
USD ($) / shares
$c00030http://www.sec.gov/CIK0000110430duration2010-01-01T00:00:002010-12-31T00:00:00u000Standardhttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217USDiso42170u002Dividehttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217USDiso4217http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instancesharesxbrli0u001Standardhttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/instancesharesxbrli0USDUSD$2true0fto_NotesToFinancialStatementsAbstractftofalsenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalse1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringNo definition available.falsefalse3false0us-gaap_NatureOfOperationsus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseterselabel1falsefalsefalse00<div><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" align="center"><tr valign="top"><td style="WIDTH: 36pt"><div style="TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">1.</font></div></td><td><div align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Nature of Operations</font></div></td></tr></table></div><div style="TEXT-INDENT: 0pt; DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="justify"> </div><div style="TEXT-INDENT: 18pt; DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The financial statements include the accounts of Frontier Oil Corporation ("FOC"), a Wyoming corporation, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, collectively referred to as "Frontier" or "the Company."  The Company is an energy company engaged in crude oil refining and wholesale marketing of refined petroleum products (the "refining operations").</font></div><div style="TEXT-INDENT: 18pt; DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The Company operates refineries ("the Refineries") in Cheyenne, Wyoming and El Dorado, Kansas.  The Company also owns Ethanol Management Company ("EMC"), a products terminal and blending facility located near Denver, Colorado.  The Company purchased in December 2009, a refined products pipeline which runs from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Sidney, Nebraska and the associated refined products terminal and truck rack at Sidney, Nebraska.  This purchase is included in "Other" on the 2009 Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.    The equity method of accounting is utilized for the Company's 25% interest in 8901 Hangar, Inc., a company which leases and operates a private airplane hangar.  The Company's investment in 8901 Hangar, Inc. was $82,000 at both December 31, 2010 and 2009, and is included in "Other assets" on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.</font></div><div style="TEXT-INDENT: 18pt; DISPLAY: block; MARGIN-LEFT: 0pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0pt" align="left"><font style="DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">All of the operations of the Company are in the United States, with its marketing efforts focused in the Rocky Mountain and Plains States regions of the United States.  The Rocky Mountain region includes the states of Colorado, Wyoming, western Nebraska, Montana and Utah, and the Plains States include the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, eastern Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota.  The Company purchases crude oil to be refined and markets the refined petroleum products produced, including various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, asphalt, chemicals and petroleum coke.  The operations of refining and marketing of petroleum products are considered part of one reporting segment.</font></div>1.Nature of Operations The financial statements include the accounts of Frontier Oil Corporation ("FOC"), a Wyoming corporation, and its wholly-ownedfalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings). Disclosures about the nature of operations need not be quantified; relative importance could be conveyed by use of terms such as "predominately", "about equally", or "major and other". This element is also referred to as "Business Description".Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher AICPA
-Name Statement of Position (SOP)
-Number 94-6
-Paragraph 10
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