Partners' Capital and Distributions - Preferred Unit Offering (Details) - Series A Preferred Units - Limited Partners shares in Millions	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2016 $ / shares shares	Mar. 31, 2016 item $ / shares
Partners Capital and Distributions
Sale of Series A preferred units (in units) \| shares	61.0
Cash purchase price (in dollars per unit)	$ 26.25
Annual rate of distributions (as a percent)		8.00%
Annualized distribution rate (in dollars per unit)		$ 2.10
Distribution percentage for general partner interest		2.00%
Preferred unit conversion ratio		1
Common unit closing price as a percentage of Issue Price, over which the entity has conversion option		150.00%
Period for closing price of common units to be above threshold, to trigger conversion option		20 days
Preferred Distribution Rate Reset Option
Partners Capital and Distributions
Period after fifth and subsequent anniversaries of issuance for distribution rate reset election option		30 days
Number of distribution rate reset elections allowed \| item		1
Basis spread on variable rate (as a percent)		5.85%
Period after sixth anniversary of issuance, after which units may be redeemed if distribution rate has been reset		30 days
Value of common units if exchanged for redemption of preferred units, as a percentage of volume-weighted average price		95.00%
Redemption price as a percentage of Issue Price		110.00%

The percentage of the distribution that the general partner is entitled to based on its ownership.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Price per unit of partnership interest sold during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	paa_
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Period Type:	duration

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The percentage of the volume-weighted average price of the partnership's common units for a specified trading period, at which such common units are valued if given in exchange for the redemption of the preferred units.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The annual percentage rate of distributions to which holders of the preferred units are entitled.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The annualized distributions per unit to which holders of the preferred units are entitled.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Ratio applied to the conversion of preferred units into common units.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Threshold period of specified consecutive trading days for which the closing price of the partnership's common units must be above a specified level to trigger the conversion option by the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The closing price of the partnership's common units as a percentage of the Issue Price of the preferred units that must be exceeded for a certain period of days in order for the entity to convert the preferred units, subject to minimum time requirements and certain minimum conversion amounts.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The percentage points to be added to the applicable rate of the ten-year U.S. Treasury to calculate the new distribution rate on the preferred units if the holders elect to reset the distribution rate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	num:percentItemType
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- Definition

The number of times the holders of the preferred units may elect to reset the preferred unit distribution rate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	paa_PreferredUnitsNumberOfDistributionRateResetElectionsAllowed
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Period following the fifth and each subsequent anniversary of the issuance date of the preferred units, within which the holders of the preferred units may elect to reset the preferred unit distribution rate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Period following the sixth anniversary of the issuance date of the preferred units, after which the entity may choose to redeem all or a portion of the outstanding preferred units, if the holders of the preferred units have exercised a distribution rate reset.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The price at which the preferred units may be redeemed, as a percentage of the issue price of the units.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The number of units sold in a private placement of each class of partners' capital account. Units represent shares of ownership of the general, limited, and preferred partners.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 5
-Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 4.F)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187171-122770

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 04
-Paragraph 16
-Subparagraph a, b
-Article 6

+ Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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