v3.19.3.a.u2

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS Narrative 1 (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019 | Dec. 31, 2018 | Dec. 31, 2017
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items] |  |  |
Thrift Plan, description | The NuStar Thrift Plan (the Thrift Plan) is a qualified defined contribution plan that became effective June 26, 2006. Participation in the Thrift Plan is voluntary and open to substantially all our domestic employees upon their dates of hire. Thrift Plan participants can contribute from 1% up to 30% of their total annual compensation to the Thrift Plan in the form of pre-tax and/or after tax employee contributions. We make matching contributions in an amount equal to 100% of each participant’s employee contributions up to a maximum of 6% of the participant’s total annual compensation. |  |
Thrift Plan matching contributions | $ 7.6 | $ 7.4 | $ 6.9
Benefit plan costs, international employees | $ 0.9 | $ 2.5 | $ 2.5
Pension Plan, description | The NuStar Pension Plan (the Pension Plan) is a qualified non-contributory defined benefit pension plan that provides eligible U.S. employees with retirement income as calculated under a cash balance formula. Under the cash balance formula, benefits are determined based on age, years of vesting service and interest credits, and employees become fully vested in their benefits upon attaining three years of vesting service. Prior to January 1, 2014, eligible employees were covered under either a cash balance formula or a final average pay formula (FAP). Effective January 1, 2014, the Pension Plan was amended to freeze the FAP benefits as of December 31, 2013, and going forward, all eligible employees are covered under the cash balance formula discussed above. |  |

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- Definition Costs for defined contribution plans for certain international employees. + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition Description of terms and benefits of Non-contributory Defined Benefit Pension Plan. + References No definition available. + Details
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- 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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- Definition Amount of cost for defined contribution plan. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 715 -SubTopic 70 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49170846&loc=d3e28014-114942 + Details
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- Definition Description of defined contribution pension and other postretirement plans. + References No definition available. + Details
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