CREDIT FACILITY Narrative (Details) - USD ($)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 27, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Jun. 16, 2016
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
General partner interest percentage	2.00%
Outstanding borrowings	$ 42,500,000		$ 30,000,000
Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Borrowing capacity		$ 60,000,000.0		$ 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), our wholly owned subsidiary. Riverwalk has pledged a total of 2,926,833 NuStar Energy common units that it owns to secure its guarantee.
Outstanding borrowings	$ 42,500,000
Borrowing availability	$ 17,500,000
Weighted-average interest rate	3.30%		2.80%
Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | NuStar Energy's Consolidated Debt Coverage Ratio [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Covenant terms	Our revolving credit facility requires that NuStar Energy comply with the financial covenant in NuStar Logistics’ credit agreement, which requires NuStar Energy’s consolidated debt coverage ratio (as defined in NuStar Logistics’ credit agreement) not exceed 5.50-to-1.00 as of September 30, 2017.
Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Cash Distributions Covenant [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Covenant terms	We are also required to receive cash distributions each fiscal quarter of at least $19.0 million in respect of our ownership interests in NuStar Energy.