ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION Narrative (Details)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Percent ownership in NuStar Energy	17.60%	17.60%
General partner interest percentage	2.00%
Percent of incentive distribution rights (IDR) issued by NuStar Energy	100.00%
Maximum percentage of cash distributed by NuStar Energy	23.00%
Common units of NuStar Energy	10,293,973
Percent of limited partner interest	15.60%

The percentage of ownership of limited partner common units in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

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The ownership of limited partner common units in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

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- Definition

Incentive Distribution Rights Percentage

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- Definition

Maximum allowable percentage of cash distributed by equity method investee related to incentive distribution rights.

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- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 159

-Paragraph 18

-Subparagraph f

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-Publisher AICPA

-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)

-Number 18

-Paragraph 20

-Subparagraph a (1)

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 323

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (a)(1)

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The number of units or percentage investment held by the managing member or general partner of the LLC or LP.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher AICPA

-Name Practice Bulletin (PB)

-Number 14

-Paragraph 15

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 272

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6373374&loc=d3e70478-108055

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- Definition

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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