Supplemental Guarantor/Non-Guarantor Financial Information (Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 940,103,000	$ 1,757,699,000	$ 1,578,904,000	$ 229,101,000
Marketable securities	725,160,000	630,586,000
Accounts receivable, net	708,802,000	634,230,000
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	1,354,247,000	1,319,632,000
Income taxes receivable	109,376,000	74,957,000
Prepayments and other	58,756,000	53,161,000
Total current assets	3,896,444,000	4,470,265,000
Properties, plants and equip, net	3,394,596,000	3,194,700,000
Marketable securities (long-term)	0	5,116,000
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	2,765,699,000	2,658,916,000
Total assets	10,056,739,000	10,328,997,000	9,576,243,000
Accounts payable	1,325,376,000	1,314,151,000
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	125,115,000	195,077,000
Deferred income tax liabilities	223,999,000	145,216,000
Total current liabilities	1,674,490,000	1,654,444,000
Long-term debt	997,519,000	1,336,238,000
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	616,842,000	536,670,000
Other long-term liabilities	158,490,000	158,987,000
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	5,999,620,000	6,052,954,000
Equity – noncontrolling interest	609,778,000	589,704,000
Total liabilities and equity	10,056,739,000	10,328,997,000
Parent
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	931,920,000	1,748,808,000	1,575,891,000	230,082,000
Marketable securities	725,160,000	630,579,000
Accounts receivable, net	6,095,000	4,788,000
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable	109,376,000	74,957,000
Prepayments and other	21,843,000	21,867,000
Total current assets	1,794,394,000	2,480,999,000
Properties, plants and equip, net	30,007,000	24,209,000
Marketable securities (long-term)		5,116,000
Investment in subsidiaries	5,722,025,000	5,251,396,000
Intangibles and other assets	23,034,000	11,825,000
Total assets	7,569,460,000	7,773,545,000
Accounts payable	16,704,000	1,941,000
Intercompany accounts payable	463,530,000	546,655,000
Accrued liabilities	43,254,000	71,226,000
Deferred income tax liabilities	223,999,000	145,225,000
Total current liabilities	747,487,000	765,047,000
Long-term debt	180,054,000	460,254,000
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	611,555,000	530,544,000
Other long-term liabilities	35,874,000	48,757,000
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	5,994,490,000	5,968,943,000
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	7,569,460,000	7,773,545,000
Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	1,817,000	3,652,000	(3,358,000)	(9,035,000)
Marketable securities	0	7,000
Accounts receivable, net	698,109,000	627,262,000
Intercompany accounts receivable	149,907,000	285,291,000
Inventories	1,352,656,000	1,318,373,000
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepayments and other	45,413,000	34,667,000
Total current assets	2,247,902,000	2,269,252,000
Properties, plants and equip, net	2,633,739,000	2,444,398,000
Marketable securities (long-term)		0
Investment in subsidiaries	216,687,000	74,120,000
Intangibles and other assets	2,380,268,000	2,284,329,000
Total assets	7,478,596,000	7,072,099,000
Accounts payable	1,323,603,000	1,336,097,000
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	63,181,000	105,298,000
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	1,386,784,000	1,441,395,000
Long-term debt	34,835,000	36,311,000
Liability to HEP	245,536,000	257,777,000
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	89,416,000	85,220,000
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	5,722,025,000	5,251,396,000
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	7,478,596,000	7,072,099,000
Non- Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	14,000	2,000	2,000	2,000
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	8,075,000	0
Intercompany accounts receivable	313,623,000	261,364,000
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepayments and other	0	0
Total current assets	321,712,000	261,366,000
Properties, plants and equip, net	24,000	0
Marketable securities (long-term)		0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	25,000,000	25,000,000
Total assets	346,736,000	286,366,000
Accounts payable	383,000	0
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	795,000	581,000
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	(9,000)
Total current liabilities	1,178,000	572,000
Long-term debt	0	0
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	1,175,000
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Investment in HEP	128,871,000	210,499,000
Equity – HollyFrontier	216,687,000	74,120,000
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	346,736,000	286,366,000
Eliminations From Consolidation Of Restricted Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Intercompany accounts receivable	(463,530,000)	(546,655,000)
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepayments and other	0	0
Total current assets	(463,530,000)	(546,655,000)
Properties, plants and equip, net	0	0
Marketable securities (long-term)		0
Investment in subsidiaries	(5,938,712,000)	(5,325,516,000)
Intangibles and other assets	(25,000,000)	(25,000,000)
Total assets	(6,427,242,000)	(5,897,171,000)
Accounts payable	0	0
Intercompany accounts payable	(463,530,000)	(546,655,000)
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	(463,530,000)	(546,655,000)
Long-term debt	(25,000,000)	(25,000,000)
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	(5,938,712,000)	(5,325,516,000)
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	(6,427,242,000)	(5,897,171,000)
HollyFrontier Corp. Before Consolidation of HEP
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	933,751,000	1,752,462,000	1,572,535,000	221,049,000
Marketable securities	725,160,000	630,586,000
Accounts receivable, net	712,279,000	632,050,000
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	1,352,656,000	1,318,373,000
Income taxes receivable	109,376,000	74,957,000
Prepayments and other	67,256,000	56,534,000
Total current assets	3,900,478,000	4,464,962,000
Properties, plants and equip, net	2,663,770,000	2,468,607,000
Marketable securities (long-term)		5,116,000
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	2,403,302,000	2,296,154,000
Total assets	8,967,550,000	9,234,839,000
Accounts payable	1,340,690,000	1,338,038,000
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	107,230,000	177,105,000
Deferred income tax liabilities	223,999,000	145,216,000
Total current liabilities	1,671,919,000	1,660,359,000
Long-term debt	189,889,000	471,565,000
Liability to HEP	245,536,000	257,777,000
Deferred income tax liabilities	611,555,000	531,719,000
Other long-term liabilities	125,290,000	133,977,000
Investment in HEP	128,871,000	210,499,000
Equity – HollyFrontier	5,994,490,000	5,968,943,000
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	8,967,550,000	9,234,839,000
Non-Guarantor Non-Restricted Subsidiaries (HEP Segment)
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	6,352,000	5,237,000	6,369,000	8,052,000
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	34,736,000	38,097,000
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	1,591,000	1,259,000
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepayments and other	2,283,000	2,360,000
Total current assets	44,962,000	46,953,000
Properties, plants and equip, net	1,004,975,000	1,014,556,000
Marketable securities (long-term)		0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	363,970,000	365,291,000
Total assets	1,413,907,000	1,426,800,000
Accounts payable	22,898,000	12,030,000
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	28,668,000	23,705,000
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	51,566,000	35,735,000
Long-term debt	807,630,000	864,673,000
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	5,287,000	0
Other long-term liabilities	35,918,000	28,683,000
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	416,018,000	382,207,000
Equity – noncontrolling interest	97,488,000	115,502,000
Total liabilities and equity	1,413,907,000	1,426,800,000
Consolidations and Eliminations
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	(38,213,000)	(35,917,000)
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepayments and other	(10,783,000)	(5,733,000)
Total current assets	(48,996,000)	(41,650,000)
Properties, plants and equip, net	(274,149,000)	(288,463,000)
Marketable securities (long-term)		0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	(1,573,000)	(2,529,000)
Total assets	(324,718,000)	(332,642,000)
Accounts payable	(38,212,000)	(35,917,000)
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	(10,783,000)	(5,733,000)
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	(48,995,000)	(41,650,000)
Long-term debt	0	0
Liability to HEP	(245,536,000)	(257,777,000)
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	4,951,000
Other long-term liabilities	(2,718,000)	(3,673,000)
Investment in HEP	(128,871,000)	(210,499,000)
Equity – HollyFrontier	(410,888,000)	(298,196,000)
Equity – noncontrolling interest	512,290,000	474,202,000
Total liabilities and equity	$ (324,718,000)	$ (332,642,000)