Borrowings outstanding as of the balance sheet date to be assumed.

No definition available.

Name:	paa_DebtAssumed
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of economic interest held by the managing member or general partner of the limited liability company (LLC) or limited partnership (LP), converted into a non-economic interest.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	paa_LimitedLiabilityCompanyLlcOrLimitedPartnershipLpManagingMemberOrGeneralPartnerEconomicOwnershipInterestConvertedIntoNonEconomicInterest
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of directors the interest holder is entitled to designate to the related party Board of Directors if eligible based on percentage ownership interest in the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	paa_NumberOfRelatedPartyDirectorsForInterestHoldersToDesignate
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Per the terms of the agreement, the resulting ratio of outstanding shares of the related party to common units of the reporting entity held by the counterparty and attributable to the related party's ownership in the counterparty.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	paa_RatioOfRelatedPartySharesOutstandingToReportingEntityCommonUnitsHeldByCounterparty
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	xbrli:pureItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

If the transactions under the agreement are not closed on or prior to the record date for distributions to partners, the estimated amount of funds the related party will need to borrow under its existing credit agreement to make a true-up distribution to its unitholders.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The threshold percentage ownership of limited partner interests in the entity to allow the holder to nominate a director to the related party Board of Directors.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	paa_ThresholdOwnershipPercentageForRelatedPartyDirectorNomination
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Threshold percentage of private general partner owner group ownership, below which the shareholders are eligible to participate in the election of directors to the general partner Board of Directors.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	paa_ThresholdPrivateGeneralPartnerOwnershipForShareholdersToParticipateInElectionOfDirectors
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Ratio applied to determine the number of units or shares that would be received by holders choosing to convert or exchange one class of units or shares into another, as specified.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	paa_UnitConversionRatio
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	xbrli:pureItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Per unit of ownership amount of cash distributions declared to unit-holder of a 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

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 272
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6373374&loc=d3e70434-108055

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage investment held by the managing member or general partner of the limited liability company (LLC) or limited partnership (LP).

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LimitedLiabilityCompanyLLCOrLimitedPartnershipLPManagingMemberOrGeneralPartnerOwnershipInterest
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The number of limited partner units issued.

+ 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 FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 272
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6373374&loc=d3e70434-108055

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LimitedPartnersCapitalAccountUnitsIssued
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- 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

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LimitedPartnersCapitalAccountByClassAxis=paa_CommonUnitsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DistributionsMadeToMemberOrLimitedPartnerByDistributionTypeAxis=us-gaap_CashDistributionMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsAxis=paa_SecondQuarterDistributionFiscalYear2016Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis=us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementScenarioAxis=us-gaap_ScenarioForecastMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendsAxis=paa_ThirdQuarterDistributionFiscalYear2016Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=paa_PlainsAllAmericanPipelineLPMember
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Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PartnerTypeOfPartnersCapitalAccountAxis=paa_IndirectOwnershipInterestInEntityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
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- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=paa_PlainsGPHoldingsLPMember
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- Details

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Data Type:	na
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- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CounterpartyNameAxis=paa_PlainsAapLPMember
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Balance Type:
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- Details

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- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Balance Type:
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- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=paa_PlainsAapLPMember
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Period Type:

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Simplification Transactions - Agreement Terms (Details) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jul. 11, 2016 director $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2016
Simplification Transactions
General partner ownership interest (as a percent)			2.00%
AAP
Simplification Transactions
Estimated related party borrowings for true-up distribution if transactions not closed \| $		$ 41
Common Units \| Cash Distributions \| Second Quarter Distribution \| Subsequent Event
Simplification Transactions
Quarterly level of distributions per common unit (in dollars per unit) \| $ / shares	$ 0.70
Forecast \| Common Units \| Cash Distributions \| Third Quarter Distribution
Simplification Transactions
Quarterly level of distributions per common unit (in dollars per unit) \| $ / shares		$ 0.55
PAA \| Indirect Ownership \| AAP
Simplification Transactions
General partner ownership interest (as a percent)			2.00%
PAGP
Simplification Transactions
Threshold of private general partner ownership below which shareholders are eligible to participate in general partner Board of Director elections (as a percent)			40.00%
Simplification Agreement \| Forecast \| AAP
Simplification Transactions
Issuance of common units (in units) \| shares		245.5
Assumption of outstanding debt \| $		$ 593
Simplification Agreement \| Forecast \| PAA GP
Simplification Transactions
Economic general partner interest converted into non-economic interest (as a percent)		2.00%
Simplification Agreement \| Forecast \| PAGP \| AAP
Simplification Transactions
Ratio of PAGP Class A shares to underlying PAA Common Units held by AAP		1
Simplification Agreement \| Exchange of AAP Class A Units and PAGP Class B Shares for PAGP Class A Shares \| Subsequent Event
Simplification Transactions
Ratio for conversion or exchange of units	1
Simplification Agreement \| AAP \| Subsequent Event \| GP Holdings \| Original Designating Parties
Simplification Transactions
Threshold ownership for interest holder to nominate a director to the related party Board of Directors (as a percent)	10.00%
Number of directors interest holder may designate to related party Board of Directors \| director	1