Supplemental Guarantor/Non-Guarantor Financial Information Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 239,731	$ 567,985	$ 856,026	$ 940,103
Marketable securities	387,053	474,110
Accounts receivable, net	522,349	589,905
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	1,037,024	1,035,131
Income taxes receivable	0	11,719
Deferred income tax assets	48,419	0
Prepayments and other	73,097	104,148
Total current assets	2,307,673	2,782,998
Properties, plants and equipment, net	3,977,258	3,670,539
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	2,786,706	2,777,103
Total assets	9,071,637	9,230,640
Accounts payable	926,625	1,108,138
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Income tax payable	39,536	19,642
Accrued liabilities	126,292	106,214
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	17,409
Total current liabilities	1,092,453	1,251,403
Long-term debt	982,846	1,054,890
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	636,437	646,870
Other long-term liabilities	178,217	176,758
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	5,621,168	5,523,584
Equity – noncontrolling interest	560,516	577,135
Total liabilities and equity	9,071,637	9,230,640
Parent Company [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	228,849	565,080	850,727	931,920
Marketable securities	387,053	474,068
Accounts receivable, net	3,542	5,107
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable		11,719
Deferred income tax assets	48,419
Prepayments and other	8,222	14,734
Total current assets	676,085	1,070,708
Properties, plants and equipment, net	33,404	31,808
Investment in subsidiaries	7,199,848	5,912,233
Intangibles and other assets	26,713	30,082
Total assets	7,936,050	7,044,831
Accounts payable	18,350	11,457
Intercompany accounts payable	1,503,931	568,881
Income tax payable	39,536	19,642
Accrued liabilities	51,481	41,403
Deferred income tax liabilities		17,409
Total current liabilities	1,613,298	658,792
Long-term debt	25,000	179,144
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	636,081	646,503
Other long-term liabilities	41,790	43,451
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	5,619,881	5,516,941
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	7,936,050	7,044,831
Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	3,474	1,817
Marketable securities	0	42
Accounts receivable, net	516,964	579,526
Intercompany accounts receivable	1,037,776	171,341
Inventories	1,035,121	1,033,191
Income taxes receivable		0
Deferred income tax assets	0
Prepayments and other	69,150	95,194
Total current assets	2,659,011	1,879,294
Properties, plants and equipment, net	3,160,133	2,873,350
Investment in subsidiaries	361,459	291,912
Intangibles and other assets	2,345,298	2,388,844
Total assets	8,525,901	7,433,400
Accounts payable	930,939	1,117,429
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Income tax payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	55,720	45,331
Deferred income tax liabilities		0
Total current liabilities	986,659	1,162,760
Long-term debt	31,779	33,167
Liability to HEP	224,195	233,217
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	83,420	92,023
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	7,199,848	5,912,233
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	8,525,901	7,433,400
Non Guarantor Restricted Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	26	75	158	14
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	2,775	3,774
Intercompany accounts receivable	466,155	397,540
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable		0
Deferred income tax assets	0
Prepayments and other	0	0
Total current assets	468,956	401,389
Properties, plants and equipment, net	941	902
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	25,000	25,000
Total assets	494,897	427,291
Accounts payable	0	2
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Income tax payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	1,733	1,382
Deferred income tax liabilities		0
Total current liabilities	1,733	1,384
Long-term debt	0	0
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Investment in HEP	131,705	133,995
Equity – HollyFrontier	361,459	291,912
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	494,897	427,291
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Intercompany accounts receivable	(1,503,931)	(568,881)
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable		0
Deferred income tax assets	0
Prepayments and other	0	0
Total current assets	(1,503,931)	(568,881)
Properties, plants and equipment, net	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	(7,561,307)	(6,204,145)
Intangibles and other assets	(25,000)	(25,000)
Total assets	(9,090,238)	(6,798,026)
Accounts payable	0	0
Intercompany accounts payable	(1,503,931)	(568,881)
Income tax payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities		0
Total current liabilities	(1,503,931)	(568,881)
Long-term debt	(25,000)	(25,000)
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	(7,561,307)	(6,204,145)
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	(9,090,238)	(6,798,026)
Holly Frontier Corp. Before Consolidation of HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	228,875	565,155	854,359	933,751
Marketable securities	387,053	474,110
Accounts receivable, net	523,281	588,407
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	1,035,121	1,033,191
Income taxes receivable		11,719
Deferred income tax assets	48,419
Prepayments and other	77,372	109,928
Total current assets	2,300,121	2,782,510
Properties, plants and equipment, net	3,194,478	2,906,060
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	2,372,011	2,418,926
Total assets	7,866,610	8,107,496
Accounts payable	949,289	1,128,888
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Income tax payable	39,536	19,642
Accrued liabilities	108,934	88,116
Deferred income tax liabilities		17,409
Total current liabilities	1,097,759	1,254,055
Long-term debt	31,779	187,311
Liability to HEP	224,195	233,217
Deferred income tax liabilities	636,081	646,503
Other long-term liabilities	125,210	135,474
Investment in HEP	131,705	133,995
Equity – HollyFrontier	5,619,881	5,516,941
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	7,866,610	8,107,496
Non-Guarantor Non-Restricted Subsidiaries (HEP Segment) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	10,856	2,830	1,667	6,352
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	32,968	40,129
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	1,903	1,940
Income taxes receivable		0
Deferred income tax assets	0
Prepayments and other	2,671	2,443
Total current assets	48,398	47,342
Properties, plants and equipment, net	1,031,902	1,024,311
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	418,960	362,919
Total assets	1,499,260	1,434,572
Accounts payable	11,236	17,881
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Income tax payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	24,304	26,321
Deferred income tax liabilities		0
Total current liabilities	35,540	44,202
Long-term debt	951,067	867,579
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	356	367
Other long-term liabilities	58,417	47,170
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	359,136	380,172
Equity – noncontrolling interest	94,744	95,082
Total liabilities and equity	1,499,260	1,434,572
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	(33,900)	(38,631)
Intercompany accounts receivable	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable		0
Deferred income tax assets	0
Prepayments and other	(6,946)	(8,223)
Total current assets	(40,846)	(46,854)
Properties, plants and equipment, net	(249,122)	(259,832)
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Intangibles and other assets	(4,265)	(4,742)
Total assets	(294,233)	(311,428)
Accounts payable	(33,900)	(38,631)
Intercompany accounts payable	0	0
Income tax payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities	(6,946)	(8,223)
Deferred income tax liabilities		0
Total current liabilities	(40,846)	(46,854)
Long-term debt	0	0
Liability to HEP	(224,195)	(233,217)
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	(5,410)	(5,886)
Investment in HEP	(131,705)	(133,995)
Equity – HollyFrontier	(357,849)	(373,529)
Equity – noncontrolling interest	465,772	482,053
Total liabilities and equity	$ (294,233)	$ (311,428)