Additional Financial Information Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 111,021	$ 66,533	$ 594,092	$ 567,985
Marketable securities	0	144,019
Accounts receivable, net	430,914	351,978
Inventories	891,938	841,869
Income taxes receivable	32,813	0
Prepayments and other	32,584	43,666
Total current assets	1,499,270	1,448,065
Properties, plants and equipment, net	4,196,257	4,115,662
Intangibles and other assets	2,898,760	2,824,572
Total assets	8,594,287	8,388,299
Accounts payable	731,271	716,490
Income tax payable		8,142
Accrued liabilities	154,337	135,983
Total current liabilities	885,608	860,615
Long-term debt	1,308,168	1,040,040
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	544,308	497,906
Other long-term liabilities	213,005	179,965
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	5,086,824	5,253,415
Equity – noncontrolling interest	556,374	556,358
Total liabilities and equity	8,594,287	8,388,299
Holly Frontier Corp. Before Consolidation of HEP [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	101,987	51,520	588,290	565,155
Marketable securities		144,019
Accounts receivable, net	429,153	355,020
Inventories	889,816	839,897
Income taxes receivable	32,813
Prepayments and other	31,176	48,288
Total current assets	1,484,945	1,438,744
Properties, plants and equipment, net	3,345,759	3,261,494
Intangibles and other assets	2,438,585	2,410,879
Total assets	7,269,289	7,111,117
Accounts payable	752,085	738,024
Income tax payable		8,142
Accrued liabilities	139,914	117,346
Total current liabilities	891,999	863,512
Long-term debt	246,224	31,288
Liability to HEP	217,987	220,998
Deferred income tax liabilities	543,850	497,475
Other long-term liabilities	158,479	125,614
Investment in HEP	125,673	120,721
Equity – HollyFrontier	5,085,077	5,251,509
Equity – noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total liabilities and equity	7,269,289	7,111,117
Non-Guarantor Non-Restricted Subsidiaries (HEP Segment) [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	9,034	15,013	5,802	2,830
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	41,055	41,075
Inventories	2,122	1,972
Income taxes receivable	0
Prepayments and other	3,059	3,082
Total current assets	55,270	61,142
Properties, plants and equipment, net	1,092,443	1,099,683
Intangibles and other assets	459,887	417,574
Total assets	1,607,600	1,578,399
Accounts payable	18,480	22,583
Income tax payable		0
Accrued liabilities	16,074	26,341
Total current liabilities	34,554	48,924
Long-term debt	1,061,944	1,008,752
Liability to HEP	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities	458	431
Other long-term liabilities	55,381	59,376
Investment in HEP	0	0
Equity – HollyFrontier	359,023	366,487
Equity – noncontrolling interest	96,240	94,429
Total liabilities and equity	1,607,600	1,578,399
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	(39,294)	(44,117)
Inventories	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0
Prepayments and other	(1,651)	(7,704)
Total current assets	(40,945)	(51,821)
Properties, plants and equipment, net	(241,945)	(245,515)
Intangibles and other assets	288	(3,881)
Total assets	(282,602)	(301,217)
Accounts payable	(39,294)	(44,117)
Income tax payable		0
Accrued liabilities	(1,651)	(7,704)
Total current liabilities	(40,945)	(51,821)
Long-term debt	0	0
Liability to HEP	(217,987)	(220,998)
Deferred income tax liabilities	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	(855)	(5,025)
Investment in HEP	(125,673)	(120,721)
Equity – HollyFrontier	(357,276)	(364,581)
Equity – noncontrolling interest	460,134	461,929
Total liabilities and equity	$ (282,602)	$ (301,217)