CREDIT FACILITY Narrative (Details)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
General partner interest percentage	2.00%
Outstanding borrowings	$ 30,000,000	$ 26,000,000
Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity	50,000,000.0
Letters of credit capacity	$ 10,000,000.0
Collateral	Our obligations under our revolving credit facility are guaranteed by Riverwalk Holdings, LLC (Riverwalk), a wholly owned subsidiary. Riverwalk pledged 1,792,918 NuStar Energy common units that it owns to secure its guarantee.
Outstanding borrowings	$ 30,000,000
Borrowing availability	$ 20,000,000
Weighted-average interest rate	2.40%
Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | NuStar Energy Consolidated Debt Coverage Ratio [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Covenant terms	As of March 31, 2016, NuStar Energy's consolidated debt coverage ratio (as defined in our revolving credit agreement) could not exceed 5.00-to-1.00.
NuStar Energy's consolidated debt coverage ratio	4.6
Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Cash Distributions Covenant [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Covenant terms	We are also required to receive cash distributions of at least $16.0 million in respect of our ownership interests in NuStar Energy each fiscal quarter