Earnings Per Share (Schedule Of Earnings Per Share) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Earnings attributable to HollyFrontier stockholders	$ (43,921)	$ 196,322	$ 360,824	$ 226,876	$ (222,204)	$ 175,006	$ 176,429	$ 152,061	$ 740,101	$ 281,292	$ 735,842
Participating securities share in earnings									2,306	820	2,754
Net income attributable to common shares									$ 737,795	$ 280,472	$ 733,088
Average number of shares of common stock outstanding	181,460	187,208	191,355	195,069	195,310	197,261	198,139	198,297	188,731	197,243	200,419
Effect of dilutive variable restricted shares and performance share units									209	185	815
Average number of shares of common stock outstanding assuming dilution	181,460	187,344	191,454	195,121	195,310	197,535	198,380	198,924	188,940	197,428	201,234
Basic earnings per share	$ (0.24)	$ 1.05	$ 1.88	$ 1.16	$ (1.13)	$ 0.88	$ 0.89	$ 0.76	$ 3.91	$ 1.42	$ 3.66
Diluted earnings per share	$ (0.24)	$ 1.04	$ 1.88	$ 1.16	$ (1.13)	$ 0.88	$ 0.89	$ 0.76	$ 3.90	$ 1.42	$ 3.64
Anti-dilutive restricted and performance share units excluded from computations									89	356	166