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Organization and Basis of Presentation (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012 segment	Mar. 31, 2011
Organization and Basis of Presentation
Operating segments number	3
Partner Income Allocation
General partner ownership interest (as a percent)	2.00%
Net Income Attributable to Plains	$ 230	$ 182
Limited Partner
Partner Income Allocation
Limited partner ownership interest (as a percent)	98.00%
Net Income Attributable to Plains		129
General Partner
Partner Income Allocation
General partner ownership interest (as a percent)	2.00%
Net Income Attributable to Plains		53
Total Net Income Attributable to Plains
Partner Income Allocation
Net Income Attributable to Plains		182
Amounts Previously Reported | Limited Partner
Partner Income Allocation
Net Income Attributable to Plains		133
Amounts Previously Reported | General Partner
Partner Income Allocation
Net Income Attributable to Plains		$ 49

X

- Definition

Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

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The number of units or percentage investment held by the managing member or general partner of the LLC or LP.

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