Lessee, Finance Lease, Lease Not yet Commenced, Future Minimum Lease Payments

No definition available.

Name:	paa_LesseeFinanceLeaseLeaseNotYetCommencedFutureMinimumLeasePayments
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Lessee, Leases, Renewal Term

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	paa_LesseeLeasesRenewalTerm
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Lessee, Leases, Term of Contract

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	paa_LesseeLeasesTermOfContract
Namespace Prefix:	paa_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Term of lessee's finance lease not yet commenced, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918673-209980

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeFinanceLeaseLeaseNotYetCommencedTermOfContract1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
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

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

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

- Definition

Term of lessor's operating lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=119202524&loc=SL77919359-209981

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LessorOperatingLeaseTermOfContract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This element represents the payments that the lessee is obligated to make or can be required to make in connection with a property under the terms of an agreement classified as an operating lease, excluding contingent rentals and a guarantee by the lessee of the lessor's debt and the lessee's obligation to pay (apart from the rental payments) executory costs such as insurance, maintenance, and taxes.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77910348&loc=d3e34039-112682

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 10
-Section 55
-Paragraph 40
-Subparagraph (Note 3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82846649&loc=d3e38371-112697

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77902758&loc=d3e41499-112717

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeasesRentExpenseMinimumRentals
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=us-gaap_EquityMethodInvesteeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
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Leases - Narrative Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lease expense		$ 199	$ 207
Equity Method Investees
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lease not yet commenced, term of contract	16 years
Lease not yet commenced, future minimum lease payments	$ 66
Minimum
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lessee, leases, term of contract	1 year
Lessee, leases, renewal term	1 year
Lessor, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lessor, operating lease, term of contract	2 years
Maximum
Lessee, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lessee, leases, term of contract	60 years
Lessee, leases, renewal term	40 years
Lessor, Lease, Description [Line Items]
Lessor, operating lease, term of contract	22 years