Supplemental Guarantor/Non-Guarantor Financial Information Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Intercompany accounts payable	$ 0
Cash flows from operating activities	721,479	451,515
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(205,987)	(153,942)
Proceeds from sale of properties, plants, and equipment	0	5,802
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	(5,000)	(2,000)
Net repayment of advances to Sabine Biofuels	10,021	(13,700)
Purchases of marketable securities	(498,080)	(399,154)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	543,604	398,762
Net Advances to Parent	0	0
Net cash used for investing activities	(194,224)	(181,093)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	(180,000)
Proceeds from common unit offerings	0	146,888
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		66,000
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP	(156,188)	(300,973)
Inventory repurchase obligation	5,964	0
Purchase of treasury stock	(20,135)	(159,432)
Contribution from General Partner		0
Dividends	(323,088)	(264,867)
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	3,778	1,037
Deferred financing costs and other	433	2,184
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(349,056)	(678,701)
Increase (decrease) for the period	178,199	(408,279)
Beginning of period	940,103	1,757,699
End of period	1,118,302	1,349,420
Principal tender on senior notes	0	(300,973)
Parent Company [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Intercompany accounts payable	1,085,461
Cash flows from operating activities	(144,972)	(374,074)
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(6,329)	(5,025)
Proceeds from sale of properties, plants, and equipment		0
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment of advances to Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Purchases of marketable securities	(498,080)	(399,154)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	543,604	398,762
Net Advances to Parent	0	0
Net cash used for investing activities	39,195	(5,417)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP	0	(300,973)
Inventory repurchase obligation	0
Purchase of treasury stock	(20,135)	(159,432)
Contribution from General Partner		0
Dividends	(323,088)	(264,867)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	3,778	1,037
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	0
Deferred financing costs and other	0	0
Net advances from subsidiaries	621,534	615,078
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	282,089	(35,713)
Increase (decrease) for the period	176,312	(415,204)
Beginning of period	931,920	1,748,808
End of period	1,108,232	1,333,604
Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Intercompany accounts payable	0
Cash flows from operating activities	773,845	758,289
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(199,132)	(148,917)
Proceeds from sale of properties, plants, and equipment		(3,321)
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	(5,000)	(2,000)
Net repayment of advances to Sabine Biofuels	10,021	(13,700)
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net Advances to Parent	(582,930)	(596,004)
Net cash used for investing activities	(777,041)	(757,300)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP	0	0
Inventory repurchase obligation	5,964
Purchase of treasury stock	0	0
Contribution from General Partner		0
Dividends	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	0	0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	0
Deferred financing costs and other	808	2,457
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	5,156	2,457
Increase (decrease) for the period	1,960	3,446
Beginning of period	1,817	3,652
End of period	3,777	7,098
Non Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Intercompany accounts payable	0
Cash flows from operating activities	38,968	20,573
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(526)	0
Proceeds from sale of properties, plants, and equipment		0
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment of advances to Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net Advances to Parent	(38,604)	(19,074)
Net cash used for investing activities	(39,130)	(19,074)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP	0	0
Inventory repurchase obligation	0
Purchase of treasury stock	0	0
Contribution from General Partner		1,499
Dividends	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	0	0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	0
Deferred financing costs and other	(375)	0
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	375	(1,499)
Increase (decrease) for the period	213	0
Beginning of period	14	2
End of period	227	2
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Intercompany accounts payable	(1,085,461)
Cash flows from operating activities	0	0
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Proceeds from sale of properties, plants, and equipment		0
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment of advances to Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net Advances to Parent	621,534	615,078
Net cash used for investing activities	621,534	615,078
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		0
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP	0	0
Inventory repurchase obligation	0
Purchase of treasury stock	0	0
Contribution from General Partner		0
Dividends	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	0	0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	0	0
Deferred financing costs and other	0	0
Net advances from subsidiaries	621,534	615,078
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(621,534)	(615,078)
Increase (decrease) for the period	0	0
Beginning of period	0	0
End of period	0	0
Holly Frontier Corp. Before Consolidation Of HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Intercompany accounts payable	0
Cash flows from operating activities	667,841	404,788
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(205,987)	(153,942)
Proceeds from sale of properties, plants, and equipment		(3,321)
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	(5,000)	(2,000)
Net repayment of advances to Sabine Biofuels	10,021	(13,700)
Purchases of marketable securities	(498,080)	(399,154)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	543,604	398,762
Net Advances to Parent	0	0
Net cash used for investing activities	(155,442)	(166,713)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		73,444
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP	0	(300,973)
Inventory repurchase obligation	5,964
Purchase of treasury stock	(20,135)	(159,432)
Contribution from General Partner		1,499
Dividends	(323,088)	(264,867)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	3,778	1,037
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	0
Deferred financing costs and other	433	2,457
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(333,914)	(649,833)
Increase (decrease) for the period	178,485	(411,758)
Beginning of period	933,751	1,752,462
End of period	1,112,236	1,340,704
Non-Guarantor Non-Restricted Subsidiaries (HEP Segment) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Intercompany accounts payable	0
Cash flows from operating activities	92,667	81,542
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	(16,861)
Proceeds from sale of properties, plants, and equipment		(2,481)
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment of advances to Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net Advances to Parent	0	0
Net cash used for investing activities	(38,782)	(14,380)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	(180,000)
Proceeds from common unit offerings		73,444
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		66,000
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP	(156,188)	0
Inventory repurchase obligation	0
Purchase of treasury stock	0	0
Contribution from General Partner		1,499
Dividends	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	(77,577)	(69,419)
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	0	0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	(406)	(2,934)
Deferred financing costs and other	0	(273)
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(54,171)	(63,683)
Increase (decrease) for the period	(286)	3,479
Beginning of period	6,352	5,237
End of period	6,066	8,716
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Intercompany accounts payable	0
Cash flows from operating activities	(39,029)	(34,815)
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Proceeds from sale of properties, plants, and equipment		0
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment of advances to Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net Advances to Parent	0	0
Net cash used for investing activities	0	0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP	0	0
Inventory repurchase obligation	0
Purchase of treasury stock	0	0
Contribution from General Partner		0
Dividends	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	39,029	34,815
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	0	0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	0	0
Deferred financing costs and other	0	0
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	39,029	34,815
Increase (decrease) for the period	0	0
Beginning of period	0	0
End of period	0	0
HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(38,782)	(16,861)
Proceeds from common unit offerings		73,444
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	(38,548)	(34,604)
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	(406)	(2,934)
Beginning of period	6,352
End of period	6,066
Principal tender on senior notes	(156,188)	0
HEP [Member] | Parent Company [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		73,444
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP		0
HEP [Member] | Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP		0
HEP [Member] | Non Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP		0
HEP [Member] | Holly Frontier Corp. Before Consolidation Of HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP		0
HEP [Member] | Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		0
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		$ 0