Capital Stock - Additional Information (Detail)	1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended															12 Months Ended										12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2012	Jul. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($) D Y	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Jul. 28, 2010 USD ($)	Feb. 29, 2008	Jun. 14, 2007	May 05, 2005 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Stock Options [Member] CAD	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted Stock [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Restricted Stock [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2004 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2003 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Conditional Restricted Stock [Member] USD ($) Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Conditional Restricted Stock [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Conditional Restricted Stock [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Non Employee Director [Member]	Nov. 10, 2010 Mariner Energy Inc [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Convertible Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Series A Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Series D Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Performance Program 2010 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Performance Program 2011 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Performance Program 2012 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Performance Program 2013 [Member]	May 07, 2008 2008 SAR plan [Member] USD ($)	May 07, 2008 2005 Plan [Member] USD ($)	May 05, 2005 2005 SAR Plan [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Share Appreciation Program 2008 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Share Appreciation Program 2008 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Share Appreciation Program 2008 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 Share Appreciation Program 2008 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Share Appreciation Plan 2005 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Share Appreciation Plan 2005 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Share Appreciation Plan 2005 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 Share Appreciation Plan 2005 [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Options and restricted stock, anti-dilutive			4,400,000	2,500,000	2,300,000																				14,300,000
Common stock, shares issued			392,712,245	385,249,885		26,450,000																		17,280,000
Underwritten public offering price per share						$ 88
Underwritten public offering price value						$ 2,300,000,000
Closing price per share of Mariner common stock in Stock Exchange																								$ 110.25
Total value of stock consideration related to Mariner Merger																								1,900,000,000
Public offering of common stock underwritten	6,272,667
Dividends, Common stock			$ 0.66	$ 0.60	$ 0.60
Compensation expense			167,000,000	113,000,000	164,000,000										74,000,000	76,000,000	73,000,000			47,000,000	12,000,000	7,000,000													22,000,000	8,000,000	49,000,000			1,000,000	6,000,000
Stock-based compensation expenses, after tax			119,000,000	73,000,000	106,000,000							48,000,000	49,000,000	47,000,000						31,000,000	8,000,000	4,000,000
Period in which stock options become exercisable											4 years				4 years
Period in which stock options expires after grant date											10 years
Intrinsic value of options exercised			12,000,000	50,000,000	62,000,000
Cash received from exercise of options			17,000,000
Additional tax benefit for the amount of intrinsic value in excess of compensation cost			2,000,000
Total compensation cost related to non-vested options not yet recognized											90,000,000	151,000,000								72,000,000
Settlement period for SARs			10 years
Issuance of stock appreciation rights to non-executive employees															180,555			1,334,300	1,809,060
Weighted-average exercise price of SARs															$ 82.63			$ 28.78	$ 42.68
Nonvested shares outstanding												2,164,000	2,115,000		583,688					1,306,000	1,019,000								503,884	802,390					0	1,372,000	1,485,000	2,592,000			400,000	1,103,000
Nonvested shares exercisable															413,582
Weighted-average fair value of SARs outstanding															$ 36.20
SARs exercised															60,523
Aggregate cash payments made to settle SARs															3,000,000
Restricted stock units awarded												1,220,000	887,851	1,143,989						852,000																	25,000
Granted, Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value												$ 85.67	$ 124.16	$ 103.88						$ 70.30																$ 71.28	$ 71.16				$ 21.64
Restricted stock capitalized			67,000,000	42,000,000	71,000,000							25,000,000	28,000,000	28,000,000						21,000,000	5,000,000	3,000,000													12,000,000	5,000,000	27,000,000			1,000,000	3,000,000
Weighted-average remaining life of unvested restricted stock units			1.4																	2.4
Total fair value of restricted stock awards vested												114,000,000	85,000,000	69,000,000
Restricted stock units, vested (Percentage)																							50.00%
Percentage of additional vest on succeeding anniversaries				25.00%
Initial conditional restricted stock unit awards granted to eligible employees																												541,440	585,811	851,985	1,232,176
Number of restricted stock units awarded																												0
Minimum units awarded based upon measurement																													0	0	0
Maximum units awarded based upon measurement																													1,259,710	2,005,975	2,464,352
Range of ultimate number of restricted stock units awarded																													zero to 1,259,710 units	zero to 2,005,975 units	zero to 2,464,352 units
Consecutive trading days			30
Target to increase share price																																$ 216		$ 108
Interim target to increase share price									$ 81																								$ 162
Installments were awarded, if share price exceeded the interim goal							108	81
Recognized amortized expense																																			16,000,000		27,000,000
Total expense for share appreciation program																																			181,000,000				79,000,000
Preferred stock, shares authorized			10,000,000	10,000,000																							1,265,000
Shares designated as Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock			25,000
Mandatory convertibles preferred stock, Series D		6.00%	6.00%																								6.00%
Series B Preferred Stock Description			Series A Preferred Stock In December 1995, the Company declared a dividend of one right (a Right) for each 2.31 shares (adjusted for subsequent stock dividends and a two-for-one stock split) of Apache common stock outstanding on January 31, 1996. Each full Right entitles the registered holder to purchase from the Company one ten-thousandth (1/10,000) of a share of Series A Preferred Stock at a price of $100 per one ten-thousandth of a share, subject to adjustment. The Rights are exercisable 10 calendar days following a public announcement that certain persons or groups have acquired 20 percent or more of the outstanding shares of Apache common stock or 10 business days following commencement of an offer for 30 percent or more of the outstanding shares of Apache’s outstanding common stock (flip in event); each Right will become exercisable for shares of Apache’s common stock at 50 percent of the then-market price of the common stock. If a 20-percent shareholder of Apache acquires Apache, by merger or otherwise, in a transaction where Apache does not survive or in which Apache’s common stock is changed or exchanged (flip over event), the Rights become exercisable for shares of the common stock of the Company acquiring Apache at 50 percent of the then-market price for Apache common stock. Any Rights that are or were beneficially owned by a person who has acquired 20 percent or more of the outstanding shares of Apache common stock and who engages in certain transactions or realizes the benefits of certain transactions with the Company will become void. If an offer to acquire all of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock is determined to be fair by Apache’s board of directors, the transaction will not trigger a flip in event or a flip-over event. The Company may also redeem the Rights at $.01 per Right at any time until 10 business days after public announcement of a flip in event. These rights were originally scheduled to expire on January 31, 2006. Effective as of that date, the Rights were reset to one right per share of common stock and the expiration was extended to January 31, 2016. Unless the Rights have been previously redeemed, all shares of Apache common stock issued by the Company after January 31, 1996 will include Rights. Unless and until the Rights become exercisable, they will be transferred with and only with the shares of Apache common stock.
Dividend declared for Series A preferred stock																										One right for each 2.31 shares Adjusted for susequent stock divident and two for one stock Split
Purchase Price of series A Preferred stock per One - thousand share under rights Granted			100
Number of Days to exercise Right after Public announcement for entities acquiring more than 20% of outstanding shares																										10 days
Number of days To exercise right after commencement of offer for 30% or more outstanding shares			10 days
Price for exercising rights as above Percentage of market price of common share			50.00%
Percentage acquired by Apache shareholders on contingency			20.00%
Redemption of right shares			$ 0.01
Depositary shares in separate underwriting		25,300,000
Depositary shares each representing		1/20th interest	1/20th interest
Preferred stock, shares issued			1,265,000	1,265,000		1,265,000
Net proceeds of sale of mandatory convertible preferred stock		$ 1,200,000,000
Preferred stock, liquidation preference per share			$ 1,000	$ 1,000
Liquidation preference per share, depository share			50
Preferred Stock Dividend Payment Terms			When and if declared by the Board of Directors, Apache will pay cumulative dividends on each Preferred Share at a rate of 6.00 percent per annum on the initial liquidation preference. Dividends will be paid in cash quarterly on February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1 of each year, commencing on November 1, 2010, and until and including May 1, 2013. The final dividend payment on August 1, 2013, may be paid or delivered, as the case may be, in cash, shares of Apache common stock, or a combination thereof, at the election of the Company.
Conversion of preferred stock to equity shares ratio			9.164							11.364
Minimum Common Shares Issued To Convertible Preferred Stock Holders			11,600,000
Maximum Common Shares Issued To Convertible Preferred Stock			14,400,000