Guarantor - Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 1,737	$ 1,935	$ 1,915	$ 1,536	$ 1,593	$ 1,454	$ 1,434	$ 1,507	$ 7,124	$ 5,988	$ 4,782
Operating costs and expenses:
Cost of materials and other	1,387	1,556	1,560	1,179	1,366	1,149	1,229	1,209	5,683	4,953	3,867
Direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)	130	120	141	132	175	162	124	138	523	598	541
Depreciation and amortization									202	203	184
Cost of sales									6,408	5,754	4,592
Selling, general and administrative expenses									112	113	110
Depreciation and amortization									11	11	9
Loss on asset disposals									6	3	1
Operating income	138	179	121	150	(36)	61	1	80	587	107	70
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(102)	(109)	(83)
Other income, net									15	2	2
Income (loss) from subsidiaries									0	0	0
Income (loss) before income taxes									500	0	(11)
Income tax expense (benefit)									89	(217)	(20)
Net income	106	121	80	104	173	25	(19)	38	411	217	9
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	24	31	30	38	(27)	3	(8)	16	122	(18)	(16)
Net income attributable to CVR Energy stockholders	$ 82	$ 90	$ 50	$ 66	$ 200	$ 22	$ (11)	$ 22	289	235	25
Intercompany Elimination
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net sales									(6)	(8)	(6)
Operating costs and expenses:
Cost of materials and other									(6)	(8)	(6)
Direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Cost of sales									(6)	(8)	(6)
Selling, general and administrative expenses									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Loss on asset disposals									0	0	0
Operating income									0	0	0
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									0	0	0
Other income, net									0	0	0
Income (loss) from subsidiaries									(1,446)	(490)	(143)
Income (loss) before income taxes									(1,446)	(490)	(143)
Income tax expense (benefit)									0	0	0
Net income									(1,446)	(490)	(143)
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Net income attributable to CVR Energy stockholders									(1,446)	(490)	(143)
Parent | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net sales									0	0	0
Operating costs and expenses:
Cost of materials and other									0	0	0
Direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Cost of sales									0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses									17	15	12
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Loss on asset disposals									0	0	0
Operating income									(17)	(15)	(12)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									0	0	0
Other income, net									0	0	5
Income (loss) from subsidiaries									303	246	26
Income (loss) before income taxes									286	231	19
Income tax expense (benefit)									(3)	(4)	(6)
Net income									289	235	25
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Net income attributable to CVR Energy stockholders									289	235	25
Subsidiary Issuer | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net sales									0	0	0
Operating costs and expenses:
Cost of materials and other									0	0	0
Direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Cost of sales									0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses									1	1	1
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Loss on asset disposals									0	0	0
Operating income									(1)	(1)	(1)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(32)	(34)	(32)
Other income, net									0	0	0
Income (loss) from subsidiaries									611	184	103
Income (loss) before income taxes									578	149	70
Income tax expense (benefit)									0	0	0
Net income									578	149	70
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Net income attributable to CVR Energy stockholders									578	149	70
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net sales									6,779	5,665	4,432
Operating costs and expenses:
Cost of materials and other									5,601	4,876	3,780
Direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)									364	441	392
Depreciation and amortization									130	129	126
Cost of sales									6,095	5,446	4,298
Selling, general and administrative expenses									60	14	15
Depreciation and amortization									8	8	6
Loss on asset disposals									5	3	0
Operating income									611	194	113
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(7)	(11)	(2)
Other income, net									9	1	0
Income (loss) from subsidiaries									(46)	(88)	(64)
Income (loss) before income taxes									567	96	47
Income tax expense (benefit)									0	0	0
Net income									567	96	47
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest									0	0	0
Net income attributable to CVR Energy stockholders									567	96	47
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net sales									351	331	356
Operating costs and expenses:
Cost of materials and other									88	85	93
Direct operating expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below)									159	157	149
Depreciation and amortization									72	74	58
Cost of sales									319	316	300
Selling, general and administrative expenses									34	83	82
Depreciation and amortization									3	3	3
Loss on asset disposals									1	0	1
Operating income									(6)	(71)	(30)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(63)	(64)	(49)
Other income, net									6	1	(3)
Income (loss) from subsidiaries									578	148	78
Income (loss) before income taxes									515	14	(4)
Income tax expense (benefit)									92	(213)	(14)
Net income									423	227	10
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest									122	(18)	(16)
Net income attributable to CVR Energy stockholders									$ 301	$ 245	$ 26