Additional Financial Information Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 451,990	$ 66,533	$ 233,359	$ 567,985
Marketable securities	81,328	144,019
Accounts receivable, net	481,508	351,978
Inventories	1,021,023	841,869
Income taxes receivable	49,999	0
Prepayments and other	32,250	43,666
Total current assets	2,118,098	1,448,065
Properties, plants and equipment, net	3,954,044	4,115,662
Intangibles and other assets	2,587,575	2,824,572
Total assets	8,659,717	8,388,299
Accounts payable	913,456	716,490
Income tax payable		8,142
Accrued liabilities	135,098	135,983
Total current liabilities	1,048,554	860,615
Long-term debt	1,678,123	1,040,040
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	532,661	497,906
Other long-term liabilities	202,469	179,965
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	4,636,374	5,253,415
Equity – noncontrolling interest	561,536	556,358
Total liabilities and equity	8,659,717	8,388,299
Holly Frontier Corp. Before Consolidation of HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	447,108	51,520	222,935	565,155
Marketable securities	81,328	144,019
Accounts receivable, net	483,402	355,020
Inventories	1,018,842	839,897
Income taxes receivable	49,999
Prepayments and other	33,072	48,288
Total current assets	2,113,751	1,438,744
Properties, plants and equipment, net	3,099,417	3,261,494
Intangibles and other assets	2,087,138	2,410,879
Total assets	7,300,306	7,111,117
Accounts payable	944,055	738,024
Income tax payable		8,142
Accrued liabilities	113,691	117,346
Total current liabilities	1,057,746	863,512
Long-term debt	594,987	31,288
Liability to HEP	214,888	220,998
Deferred income tax liabilities	532,195	497,475
Other long-term liabilities	144,097	125,614
Investment in HEP	126,943	120,721
Equity – HollyFrontier	4,629,450	5,251,509
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	7,300,306	7,111,117
Non-Guarantor Non-Restricted Subsidiaries (HEP Segment) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	4,882	15,013	10,424	2,830
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	50,132	41,075
Inventories	2,181	1,972
Income taxes receivable	0
Prepayments and other	2,457	3,082
Total current assets	59,652	61,142
Properties, plants and equipment, net	1,093,001	1,099,683
Intangibles and other assets	500,119	417,574
Total assets	1,652,772	1,578,399
Accounts payable	21,427	22,583
Income tax payable		0
Accrued liabilities	24,686	26,341
Total current liabilities	46,113	48,924
Long-term debt	1,083,136	1,008,752
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	466	431
Other long-term liabilities	59,198	59,376
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	368,412	366,487
Equity – noncontrolling interest	95,447	94,429
Total liabilities and equity	1,652,772	1,578,399
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	(52,026)	(44,117)
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0
Prepayments and other	(3,279)	(7,704)
Total current assets	(55,305)	(51,821)
Properties, plants and equipment, net	(238,374)	(245,515)
Intangibles and other assets	318	(3,881)
Total assets	(293,361)	(301,217)
Accounts payable	(52,026)	(44,117)
Income tax payable		0
Accrued liabilities	(3,279)	(7,704)
Total current liabilities	(55,305)	(51,821)
Long-term debt	0	0
Liability to HEP	(214,888)	(220,998)
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	(826)	(5,025)
Investment in HEP	126,943	120,721
Equity – HollyFrontier	(361,488)	(364,581)
Equity – noncontrolling interest	466,089	461,929
Total liabilities and equity	$ (293,361)	$ (301,217)