Supplemental Guarantor/Non-Guarantor Financial Information Consolidating Statement of Income (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	$ 4,707,789	$ 4,931,738
Cost of products sold	3,792,535	4,186,917
Operating expenses	265,099	241,627
General and administrative	29,198	27,528
Depreciation and amortization	71,762	56,102
Total operating costs and expenses	4,158,594	4,512,174
Income (loss) from operations	549,195	419,564
Earnings of equity method investments	59	717
Interest income (expense)	(19,789)	(32,855)
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(19,730)	(32,138)
Income before income taxes	529,465	387,426
Income tax provision	186,094	140,406
Net income	343,371	247,020
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	9,702	5,324
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	333,669	241,696
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent	345,428	146,402
Parent [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	531	99
Cost of products sold	0	0
Operating expenses	0	0
General and administrative	24,131	24,973
Depreciation and amortization	926	1,103
Total operating costs and expenses	25,057	26,076
Income (loss) from operations	(24,526)	(25,977)
Earnings of equity method investments	550,891	421,061
Interest income (expense)	(7,221)	(14,023)
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	543,670	407,038
Income before income taxes	519,144	381,061
Income tax provision	186,039	140,331
Net income	333,105	240,730
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	333,105	240,730
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent	344,864	145,436
Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	4,692,426	4,919,737
Cost of products sold	3,853,128	4,241,301
Operating expenses	239,423	222,115
General and administrative	1,775	501
Depreciation and amortization	60,620	45,174
Total operating costs and expenses	4,154,946	4,509,091
Income (loss) from operations	537,480	410,646
Earnings of equity method investments	11,614	8,502
Interest income (expense)	1,797	1,913
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	13,411	10,415
Income before income taxes	550,891	421,061
Income tax provision	0	0
Net income	550,891	421,061
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	550,891	421,061
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent	568,396	264,909
Non Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	32	57
Cost of products sold	(92)	0
Operating expenses	(19)	0
General and administrative	60	15
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Total operating costs and expenses	(51)	15
Income (loss) from operations	83	42
Earnings of equity method investments	11,992	8,375
Interest income (expense)	137	199
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	12,129	8,574
Income before income taxes	12,212	8,616
Income tax provision	0	0
Net income	12,212	8,616
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	12,212	8,616
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent	12,831	9,000
Eliminations From Consolidation Of Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	0	0
Cost of products sold	133	491
Operating expenses	0	(385)
General and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Total operating costs and expenses	133	106
Income (loss) from operations	(133)	(106)
Earnings of equity method investments	(563,103)	(429,677)
Interest income (expense)	152	504
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(562,951)	(429,173)
Income before income taxes	(563,084)	(429,279)
Income tax provision	0	0
Net income	(563,084)	(429,279)
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	(563,084)	(429,279)
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent	(581,208)	(273,511)
Holly Frontier Corp. Before Consolidation Of HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	4,692,989	4,919,893
Cost of products sold	3,853,169	4,241,792
Operating expenses	239,404	221,730
General and administrative	25,966	25,489
Depreciation and amortization	61,546	46,277
Total operating costs and expenses	4,180,085	4,535,288
Income (loss) from operations	512,904	384,605
Earnings of equity method investments	11,394	8,261
Interest income (expense)	(5,135)	(11,407)
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	6,259	(3,146)
Income before income taxes	519,163	381,459
Income tax provision	186,039	140,331
Net income	333,124	241,128
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	333,124	241,128
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent	344,883	145,834
Non-Guarantor Non-Restricted Subsidiaries (HEP Segment) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	76,484	67,577
Cost of products sold	0	0
Operating expenses	26,029	20,030
General and administrative	3,232	2,039
Depreciation and amortization	13,749	13,395
Total operating costs and expenses	43,010	35,464
Income (loss) from operations	33,474	32,113
Earnings of equity method investments	657	831
Interest income (expense)	(12,382)	(19,170)
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(11,725)	(18,339)
Income before income taxes	21,749	13,774
Income tax provision	55	75
Net income	21,694	13,699
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	2,890	(557)
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	18,804	14,256
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent	19,423	14,640
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	(61,684)	(55,732)
Cost of products sold	(60,634)	(54,875)
Operating expenses	(334)	(133)
General and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	(3,533)	(3,570)
Total operating costs and expenses	(64,501)	(58,578)
Income (loss) from operations	2,817	2,846
Earnings of equity method investments	(11,992)	(8,375)
Interest income (expense)	(2,272)	(2,278)
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(14,264)	(10,653)
Income before income taxes	(11,447)	(7,807)
Income tax provision	0	0
Net income	(11,447)	(7,807)
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	6,812	5,881
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	(18,259)	(13,688)
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent	$ (18,878)	$ (14,072)