Selected Quarterly Financial Information - Summarized Quarterly Financial Data (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 1,569	$ 1,622	$ 1,687	$ 1,486	$ 1,738	$ 1,935	$ 1,915	$ 1,536	$ 6,364	$ 7,124	$ 5,988
Cost of materials and other	1,262	1,221	1,267	1,101	1,388	1,556	1,560	1,179	4,851	5,683	4,953
Direct operating expenses	136	139	132	126	127	120	140	130	533	517	516
Operating (loss) income	69	159	192	160	124	164	108	136	580	532	145
Net income (loss)	28	104	128	102	95	108	70	93	362	366	258
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	(16)	(15)	12	1	22	28	24	33	(18)	107	(5)
Net income (loss) attributable to CVR Energy stockholders	$ 44	$ 119	$ 116	$ 101	$ 73	$ 80	$ 46	$ 60	$ 380	$ 259	$ 263
Basic and diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.44	$ 1.18	$ 1.16	$ 1.00	$ 0.73	$ 0.85	$ 0.53	$ 0.69	$ 3.78	$ 2.80	$ 3.03
Dividends declared per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.80	$ 0.75	$ 0.75	$ 0.75	$ 0.75	$ 0.75	$ 0.50	$ 0.50	$ 3.05	$ 2.50	$ 2.00
Weighted-average common shares outstanding - basic and diluted (in shares)	100.5	100.5	100.5	100.5	100.5	95.8	86.8	86.8	100.5	92.5	86.8