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Note 15 - Commitments and Contingencies (Details Textual)							1 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
	Feb. 19, 2024 USD ($)	Oct. 27, 2022 $ / shares shares	Sep. 06, 2022 $ / shares shares	May 15, 2022 $ / shares shares	May 12, 2022 $ / shares shares	May 09, 2019	Sep. 30, 2023 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2023 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2023 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2023 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2022 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2023 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2022 USD ($)	Jan. 26, 2024 USD ($)	Oct. 28, 2023 USD ($)	Mar. 24, 2023 USD ($)	Oct. 24, 2022 bbl	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2018 USD ($)
Asset Retirement Obligation													$ 4,500,000	$ 3,710,000					$ 3,461,000
Loss on Issuance of Shares													400,000	0
Payments for Loans								$ 200,000	$ 1,100,000	$ 1,500,000
Proceeds from Sale of Oil and Gas Property and Equipment									$ 185,000
Surety Bonds													230,000	230,000
Civil Penalty													200,000			$ 200,000
Rli Surety Bonds [Member]
Customer Funds													1,250,000
Collateralized Financings													200,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount													$ 1,000,000
Guarantor Obligations, Liquidation Proceeds, Percentage													50.00%
Informal Settlement Agreement With OSHA [Member]
Litigation Settlement, Expense											$ 50,000.00
TCEQ Proposed Agreed Order [Member] \| Pending Litigation [Member]
Estimated Litigation Liability													$ 400,000
Loss Contingency, Damages Sought, Value							$ 350,000					$ 400,000
Minimum [Member] \| Rli Surety Bonds [Member]
Customer Funds													1,250,000
Maximum [Member] \| Rli Surety Bonds [Member]
Customer Funds													250,000
Share-Based Payment Arrangement, Nonemployee [Member]
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Issued for Services (in shares) \| shares		24,591		252,447
Shares Issued, Price Per Share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares		$ 1.22
Share-Based Payment Arrangement, Nonemployee [Member] \| Weighted Average [Member]
Shares Issued, Price Per Share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares				$ 0.55
Share-Based Payment Arrangement, Nonemployee [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Shares Issued, Price Per Share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares				0.33
Share-Based Payment Arrangement, Nonemployee [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Shares Issued, Price Per Share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares				$ 0.91
Subsequent Event [Member]
Civil Penalty															$ 200,000
Subsequent Event [Member] \| RLI Filing for Injunction of Payment [Member] \| Pending Litigation [Member]
Loss Contingency, Damages Sought, Value	$ 1,000,000
Jonathan Carroll [Member]
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Conversion of Convertible Securities (in shares) \| shares			98,336		1,853,080
Jonathan Carroll [Member] \| Weighted Average [Member]
Shares Issued, Price Per Share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares			$ 0.86		$ 0.42
Jonathan Carroll [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Shares Issued, Price Per Share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares			0.58		0.27
Jonathan Carroll [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Shares Issued, Price Per Share (in dollars per share) \| $ / shares			$ 1.26		$ 0.64
Blue Dolphin Pipe Line Company (BDPL) [Member] \| Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) [Member]
Estimated Litigation Liability													0	0
Asset Retirement Obligation													4,500,000	$ 3,700,000
Blue Dolphin Pipe Line Company (BDPL) [Member] \| Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) [Member] \| Civil Penalty [Member]
Loss Contingency, Estimate of Possible Loss													200,000				$ 200,000
Blue Dolphin Pipe Line Company (BDPL) [Member] \| Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) [Member] \| Civil Penalty [Member] \| Subsequent Event [Member]
Loss Contingency, Estimate of Possible Loss															$ 200,000
Blue Dolphin Pipe Line Company (BDPL) [Member] \| Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) [Member]
Estimated Litigation Liability													0
Financial Assurance for Decommissioning of Pipeline in Federal Waters																					$ 900,000
Additional Financial Assurance for Pipeline Rights-of-way																				$ 4,800,000
Number of Pipeline Rights-of-way																				5
Financial Assurance Increase (decrease) For Pipeline																				$ 3,900,000
Surety Bonds													900,000
Credit-baked Surety Bonds													700,000
Cash-backed Surety Bonds													$ 200,000
Pilot Travel Centers LLC [Member] \| Terminal Services Agreement With Nixon [Member]
Long-Term Purchase Commitment, Non-renewal Period (Day)						60 days
Oil and Gas Properties, Volume Sold (Barrel of Oil) \| bbl																		185,000