v3.3.1.900

PARTNERS' EQUITY Table 3 (Details) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2015
Quarterly Distributions Level 1 [Member] |
Distribution Allocation [Line Items] |
Quarterly Distribution Amount Per Unit | Up to $0.60
Percentage of Distribution Allocated to Unitholders | 98.00%
Percentage of Distribution Allocated to the General Partner | 2.00%
Quarterly Distributions Level 2 [Member] |
Distribution Allocation [Line Items] |
Quarterly Distribution Amount Per Unit | Above $0.60 up to $0.66
Percentage of Distribution Allocated to Unitholders | 90.00%
Percentage of Distribution Allocated to the General Partner | 10.00%
Quarterly Distributions Level 3 [Member] |
Distribution Allocation [Line Items] |
Quarterly Distribution Amount Per Unit | Above $0.66
Percentage of Distribution Allocated to Unitholders | 75.00%
Percentage of Distribution Allocated to the General Partner | 25.00%

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- Definition Distribution Allocation [Line Items] + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ns_DistributionAllocationLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | ns_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Percentage of the total distribution allocated to the general partner, which includes both the general partner interest and the incentive distributions. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ns_PercentageOfDistributionAllocatedToGeneralPartner
Namespace Prefix: | ns_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Percentage of the total distribution allocated to the limited partners. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ns_PercentageOfDistributionAllocatedToLimitedPartners
Namespace Prefix: | ns_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Threshold (quarterly distribution amount per limited partner unit) that must be met to receive the corresponding percentage of the total distribution. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ns_QuarterlyDistributionAmountThresholdPerUnit
Namespace Prefix: | ns_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Details
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Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

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- Details
Name: | ns_DistributionTargetLevelsAxis=ns_QuarterlyDistributionsLevel2Member
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

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- Details
Name: | ns_DistributionTargetLevelsAxis=ns_QuarterlyDistributionsLevel3Member
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |