Supplemental Guarantor/Non-Guarantor Financial Information Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows from operating activities	$ 805,933	$ 802,163
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(307,476)	(255,090)
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired	0	11,301
Proceeds from sale of assets	14,711	5,802
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	(5,000)	(3,000)
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels	10,021	(11,040)
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels		11,040
Purchases of marketable securities	(762,224)	(672,701)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	863,769	646,301
Net Advances to Parent	0	0
Net cash used for investing activities	(247,856)	(332,128)
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		56,000
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	(192,000)
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP	0	(300,973)
Proceeds from common unit offerings	0	146,888
Principal tender on senior notes - HEP	(156,188)
Purchase of treasury stock	(133,150)	(184,947)
Contribution from General Partner		0
Dividends	(485,766)	(485,411)
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	4,482	2,739
Deferred financing costs and other	(3,995)	668
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(642,154)	(933,250)
Increase (decrease) for the period	(84,077)	(463,215)
Beginning of period	940,103	1,757,699
End of period	856,026	1,294,484
Parent Company [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows from operating activities	(260,533)	(377,762)
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(8,373)	(8,056)
Proceeds from sale of assets		0
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels		0
Purchases of marketable securities	(762,224)	(672,701)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	863,769	646,301
Net Advances to Parent	0	0
Net cash used for investing activities	93,172	(34,456)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP		(300,973)
Principal tender on senior notes - HEP	0
Purchase of treasury stock	(133,150)	(184,947)
Contribution from General Partner		0
Dividends	(485,766)	(485,411)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	4,482	2,739
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	0
Deferred financing costs and other	3,257	0
Net advances from subsidiaries	703,859	841,821
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	86,168	(53,327)
Increase (decrease) for the period	(81,193)	(465,545)
Beginning of period	931,920	1,748,808
End of period	850,727	1,283,263
Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows from operating activities	930,722	1,066,429
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(298,272)	(247,034)
Proceeds from sale of assets		(3,321)
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	(5,000)	(3,000)
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels	10,021
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels		11,040
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net Advances to Parent	(649,294)	(801,939)
Net cash used for investing activities	(927,834)	(1,070,993)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP		0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		0
Principal tender on senior notes - HEP	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
Deferred financing costs and other	1,231	912
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(1,231)	912
Increase (decrease) for the period	1,657	(3,652)
Beginning of period	1,817	3,652
End of period	3,474	0
Non Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows from operating activities	55,047	41,380
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(831)	0
Proceeds from sale of assets		0
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels		0
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net Advances to Parent	(54,565)	(39,882)
Net cash used for investing activities	(55,396)	(39,882)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP		0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		0
Principal tender on senior notes - HEP	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	(493)	0
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	493	(1,499)
Increase (decrease) for the period	144	(1)
Beginning of period	14	2
End of period	158	1
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows from operating activities	0	0
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired		0
Proceeds from sale of assets	0	0
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels		0
Purchases of marketable securities	0	0
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	0	0
Net Advances to Parent	703,859	841,821
Net cash used for investing activities	703,859	841,821
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		0
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP		0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		0
Principal tender on senior notes - HEP	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	703,859	841,821
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(703,859)	(841,821)
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]
Cash flows from operating activities	725,236	730,047
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	(307,476)	(255,090)
Proceeds from sale of assets		(3,321)
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	(5,000)	(3,000)
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels	10,021
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels		11,040
Purchases of marketable securities	(762,224)	(672,701)
Sales and maturities of marketable securities	863,769	646,301
Net Advances to Parent	0	0
Net cash used for investing activities	(186,199)	(303,510)
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP		(300,973)
Proceeds from common unit offerings		73,444
Principal tender on senior notes - HEP	0
Purchase of treasury stock	(133,150)	(184,947)
Contribution from General Partner		1,499
Dividends	(485,766)	(485,411)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	4,482	2,739
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	0
Deferred financing costs and other	3,995	912
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(618,429)	(895,735)
Increase (decrease) for the period	(79,392)	(469,198)
Beginning of period	933,751	1,752,462
End of period	854,359	1,283,264
Non-Guarantor Non-Restricted Subsidiaries (HEP Segment) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows from operating activities	140,154	124,922
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	(31,099)
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired		0
Proceeds from sale of assets		(2,481)
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels		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	(61,657)	(28,618)
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		56,000
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	(192,000)
Redemption of Senior Notes - HEP		0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		73,444
Principal tender on senior notes - HEP	(156,188)
Purchase of treasury stock	0	0
Contribution from General Partner		1,499
Dividends	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	(117,930)	(105,641)
Excess tax benefit from equity based compensation	0	0
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	(1,064)	(3,379)
Deferred financing costs and other		(244)
Net advances from subsidiaries	0	0
Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities	(83,182)	(90,321)
Increase (decrease) for the period	(4,685)	5,983
Beginning of period	6,352	5,237
End of period	1,667	11,220
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows from operating activities	(59,457)	(52,806)
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Proceeds from sale of assets		0
Investment in Sabine Biofuels	0	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels	0
Net repayment from (advances to) Sabine Biofuels		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
Principal tender on senior notes - HEP	0
Purchase of treasury stock	0	0
Contribution from General Partner		0
Dividends	0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	59,457	52,806
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	59,457	52,806
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	(61,657)	(31,099)
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired		11,301
Proceeds from sale of assets	0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		73,444
Principal tender on senior notes - HEP	(156,188)	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	(58,473)	(52,835)
Purchase of units for restricted grants - HEP	(1,064)	(3,379)
Deferred financing costs and other	0
Beginning of period	6,352
End of period	1,667
HEP [Member] | Parent Company [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired		0
Proceeds from sale of assets	0
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		73,444
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
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired		11,301
Proceeds from sale of assets	(14,711)
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
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired		0
Proceeds from sale of assets	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
HEP [Member] | Holly Frontier Corp. Before Consolidation Of HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Additions to properties, plants and equipment	0	0
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired		11,301
Proceeds from sale of assets	(14,711)
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
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired		0
Proceeds from sale of assets	0
Net repayments under credit agreement – HEP		0
Net borrowings under credit agreement – HEP	0
Proceeds from common unit offerings		$ 0