XML 40 R29.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.4.0.3

Organization and Basis of Consolidation and Presentation - Segments and Ownership (Details) | 3 Months Ended
--- | ---
Mar. 31, 2016 segment
Organization |
Operating segments number | 3
General partner ownership interest (as a percent) | 2.00%
AAP | PAGP |
Organization |
Limited partner interest (as a percent) | 43.00%

X
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | paa_OrganizationAndBasisOfPresentationLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | paa_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Percentage investment held by the managing member or general partner of the limited liability company (LLC) or limited partnership (LP). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 272 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6373374&loc=d3e70478-108055 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_LimitedLiabilityCompanyLLCOrLimitedPartnershipLPManagingMemberOrGeneralPartnerOwnershipInterest
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The number of units or percentage investment held by one or more members or limited partners of the LLC or LP. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 272 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6373374&loc=d3e70478-108055 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_LimitedLiabilityCompanyLLCOrLimitedPartnershipLPMembersOrLimitedPartnersOwnershipInterest
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | dei_LegalEntityAxis=paa_PlainsAapLPMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=paa_PlainsGPHoldingsLPMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |