RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS Table (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Expenses for payroll, employee benefit plans and unit-based compensation	$ 52,766	$ 47,346	$ 104,742	$ 98,324
Other	70	49	151	153
Total related party transactions charged to NuStar Energy	$ 52,836	$ 47,395	$ 104,893	$ 98,477

Other related party transactions charged to equity method investee.

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- Definition

Related party transactions for payroll, employee benefit plans and unit-based compensation charged to equity method investee.

+ Details

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- Definition

Expenses recognized during the period resulting from transactions (excluding transactions that are eliminated in consolidated or combined financial statements) with related party during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)
-Number 57
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph c

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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