Supplemental Guarantor/Non-Guarantor Financial Information Consolidating Statement of Income (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	$ 4,791,053	$ 4,707,789
Cost of products sold	4,138,620	3,792,535
Operating expenses	273,966	265,099
General and administrative	26,923	29,198
Depreciation and amortization	80,548	71,762
Total operating costs and expenses	4,520,057	4,158,594
Income (loss) from operations	270,996	549,195
Earnings (loss) of equity method investments	(801)	59
Interest income (expense)	(10,942)	(19,789)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	(7,677)	0
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(19,420)	(19,730)
Income before income taxes	251,576	529,465
Income tax provision	87,614	186,094
Net income	163,962	343,371
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	11,901	9,702
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	152,061	333,669
Comprehensive income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	205,303	345,428
Parent [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	101	531
Cost of products sold	0	0
Operating expenses	0	0
General and administrative	21,107	24,131
Depreciation and amortization	1,790	926
Total operating costs and expenses	22,897	25,057
Income (loss) from operations	(22,796)	(24,526)
Earnings (loss) of equity method investments	262,359	550,910
Interest income (expense)	(424)	(7,221)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	261,935	543,689
Income before income taxes	239,139	519,163
Income tax provision	87,539	186,039
Net income	151,600	333,124
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	151,600	333,124
Comprehensive income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	204,842	344,883
Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	4,775,123	4,692,426
Cost of products sold	4,209,722	3,853,128
Operating expenses	251,476	239,423
General and administrative	2,626	1,775
Depreciation and amortization	67,107	60,620
Total operating costs and expenses	4,530,931	4,154,946
Income (loss) from operations	244,192	537,480
Earnings (loss) of equity method investments	16,022	11,633
Interest income (expense)	2,145	1,797
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	18,167	13,430
Income before income taxes	262,359	550,910
Income tax provision	0	0
Net income	262,359	550,910
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	262,359	550,910
Comprehensive income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	349,384	568,415
Non Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	971	32
Cost of products sold	0	41
Operating expenses	0	(19)
General and administrative	39	60
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Total operating costs and expenses	39	82
Income (loss) from operations	932	(50)
Earnings (loss) of equity method investments	16,283	11,992
Interest income (expense)	130	289
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	16,413	12,281
Income before income taxes	17,345	12,231
Income tax provision	0	0
Net income	17,345	12,231
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	17,345	12,231
Comprehensive income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	17,382	12,850
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	0	0
Cost of products sold	0	0
Operating expenses	0	0
General and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Total operating costs and expenses	0	0
Income (loss) from operations	0	0
Earnings (loss) of equity method investments	(279,704)	(563,141)
Interest income (expense)	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(279,704)	(563,141)
Income before income taxes	(279,704)	(563,141)
Income tax provision	0	0
Net income	(279,704)	(563,141)
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	(279,704)	(563,141)
Comprehensive income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	(366,766)	(581,265)
Holly Frontier Corp. Before Consolidation Of HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	4,776,195	4,692,989
Cost of products sold	4,209,722	3,853,169
Operating expenses	251,476	239,404
General and administrative	23,772	25,966
Depreciation and amortization	68,897	61,546
Total operating costs and expenses	4,553,867	4,180,085
Income (loss) from operations	222,328	512,904
Earnings (loss) of equity method investments	14,960	11,394
Interest income (expense)	1,851	(5,135)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	16,811	6,259
Income before income taxes	239,139	519,163
Income tax provision	87,539	186,039
Net income	151,600	333,124
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	151,600	333,124
Comprehensive income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	204,842	344,883
Non-Guarantor Non-Restricted Subsidiaries (HEP Segment) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	87,012	76,484
Cost of products sold	0	0
Operating expenses	22,812	26,029
General and administrative	3,151	3,232
Depreciation and amortization	15,184	13,749
Total operating costs and expenses	41,147	43,010
Income (loss) from operations	45,865	33,474
Earnings (loss) of equity method investments	522	657
Interest income (expense)	(10,451)	(12,382)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	(7,677)
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(17,606)	(11,725)
Income before income taxes	28,259	21,749
Income tax provision	75	55
Net income	28,184	21,694
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	3,637	2,890
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	24,547	18,804
Comprehensive income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	24,585	19,423
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Sales and other revenues	(72,154)	(61,684)
Cost of products sold	(71,102)	(60,634)
Operating expenses	(322)	(334)
General and administrative	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	(3,533)	(3,533)
Total operating costs and expenses	(74,957)	(64,501)
Income (loss) from operations	2,803	2,817
Earnings (loss) of equity method investments	(16,283)	(11,992)
Interest income (expense)	(2,342)	(2,272)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	0
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(18,625)	(14,264)
Income before income taxes	(15,822)	(11,447)
Income tax provision	0	0
Net income	(15,822)	(11,447)
Less net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	8,264	6,812
Net income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	(24,086)	(18,259)
Comprehensive income attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	$ (24,124)	$ (18,878)