General, Description of Business, and Basis of Presentation	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
General, Description of Business, and Basis of Presentation [Text Block]	Note 1 – General, Description of Business, and Basis of Presentation General Our accompanying interim consolidated financial statements do not include all the notes in our annual financial statements and, therefore, should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2014, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. The accompanying unaudited financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments and others that, in the opinion of management, are necessary to present fairly our interim financial statements. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, references in this report to “we,” “our,” “us,” or like terms refer to The Williams Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, references to “we,” “our,” and “us” include the operations in which we own interests accounted for as equity-method investments that are not consolidated in our financial statements. When we refer to our equity investees by name, we are referring exclusively to their businesses and operations. Merger On February 2, 2015, we completed the merger of our consolidated master limited partnerships, Williams Partners L.P. (Pre-merger WPZ) and Access Midstream Partners, L.P. (ACMP) (Merger). The merged partnership is named Williams Partners L.P. Under the terms of the merger agreement, each ACMP unitholder received 1.06152 ACMP units for each ACMP unit owned immediately prior to the Merger. In conjunction with the Merger, each Pre-merger WPZ common unit held by the public was exchanged for 0.86672 ACMP common units. Each Pre-merger WPZ common unit held by us was exchanged for 0.80036 ACMP common units. Prior to the closing of the Merger, the Class D limited partner units of Pre-merger WPZ, all of which were held by us, were converted into WPZ common units on a one-for-one basis pursuant to the terms of the WPZ partnership agreement. Following the Merger, we own approximately 60 percent of the merged partnership, including the general partner interest and incentive distribution rights (IDRs). In this report, we refer to the post-merger partnership as “WPZ” and the pre-merger entities as “Pre-merger WPZ” and “ACMP.” Description of Business Our operations are located principally in the United States and are organized into the Williams Partners and Williams NGL & Petchem Services reportable segments. All remaining business activities are included in Other. For periods after the ACMP Acquisition (See Note 2 – Acquisition), the former Access Midstream segment is now reported within Williams Partners. For periods prior to the ACMP Acquisition, the former Access Midstream segment is now reported within Other. Prior periods segment disclosures have been recast. Williams Partners Williams Partners consists of our consolidated master limited partnership, Williams Partners L.P. (WPZ), and primarily includes gas pipeline and midstream businesses. WPZ’s gas pipeline businesses primarily consist of two interstate natural gas pipelines, which are Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco) and Northwest Pipeline LLC (Northwest Pipeline), and several joint venture investments in interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline systems, including a 50 percent equity-method investment in Gulfstream Natural Gas System, L.L.C., and a 41 percent interest in Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC (Constitution) (a consolidated entity). WPZ’s midstream businesses primarily consist of (1) natural gas gathering, treating, and processing; (2) natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation, storage and transportation; (3) oil transportation; and (4) olefins production. The primary service areas are concentrated in major producing basins in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Wyoming, the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Ohio which include the Marcellus and Utica shale plays as well as the Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Barnett, Mid-Continent, and Niobrara areas. The midstream businesses includes equity-method investments in natural gas gathering and processing assets and NGL fractionation and transportation assets, including a 49 percent equity-method investment in Utica East Ohio Midstream, LLC (UEOM), a 50 percent equity-method investment in the Delaware basin gas gathering system in the Mid-Continent region, a 69 percent equity-method investment in Laurel Mountain Midstream, LLC, a 58 percent equity-method investment in Caiman Energy II, LLC, a 60 percent equity-method investment in Discovery Producer Services LLC, a 50 percent equity-method investment in Overland Pass Pipeline, LLC, and Appalachia Midstream Services, LLC, which owns an approximate average 45 percent equity-method investment interest in 11 gas gathering systems in the Marcellus Shale. Subsequent to March 31, 2015, WPZ announced an agreement to acquire an additional equity interest in UEOM. Refer to Note 14 – Subsequent Events for further information. The midstream businesses also include our Canadian midstream operations, which are comprised of an oil sands offgas processing plant near Fort McMurray, Alberta, an NGL/olefin fractionation facility and butylene/butane splitter facility at Redwater, Alberta, and the Boreal Pipeline. Williams NGL & Petchem Services Williams NGL & Petchem Services includes certain other domestic olefins pipeline assets and certain Canadian growth projects under development (including a propane dehydrogenation facility and a liquids extraction plant). Other Other includes other business activities that are not operating segments, as well as corporate operations. Basis of Presentation Consolidated master limited partnership As of March 31, 2015, we own approximately 60 percent of the interests in WPZ, including the interests of the general partner, which are wholly owned by us, and IDRs. The previously described Merger and other equity issuances by WPZ had the combined net impact of increasing Noncontrolling interests in consolidated subsidiaries by $260 million and decreasing Capital in excess of par value by $163 million and Deferred income taxes by $97 million in the Consolidated Balance Sheet. WPZ is self-funding and maintains separate lines of bank credit and cash management accounts and also has a commercial paper program. (See Note 9 – Debt and Banking Arrangements.) Cash distributions from WPZ to us, including any associated with our IDRs, occur through the normal partnership distributions from WPZ to all partners. Discontinued operations Unless indicated otherwise, the information in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements relates to our continuing operations. Accounting standards issued but not yet adopted In February 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2015-2 “Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis” (ASU 2015-2). ASU 2015-2 alters the models used to determine consolidation conclusions for certain entities, including limited partnerships, and may require additional disclosures. The ASU is effective for financial statements issued for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015 and interim periods within the reporting periods with either retrospective or modified retrospective presentation allowed. We will adopt the standard in the first quarter of 2016. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new standard on our consolidated financial statements. In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-3 “Interest - Imputation of Interest: Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs” (ASU 2015-3). ASU 2015-3 simplifies the presentation of debt issuance costs by requiring such costs be presented as a deduction from the corresponding debt liability. The guidance is effective for financial statements issued for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015 and interim periods within the reporting periods and requires retrospective presentation. We will adopt the standard in the first quarter of 2016. We are evaluating the impact of the new standard. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09 establishing Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (ASC 606). ASC 606 establishes a comprehensive new revenue recognition model designed to depict the transfer of goods or services to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration the entity expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for those goods or services and requires significantly enhanced revenue disclosures. The standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within the reporting period. The FASB has recently proposed delaying the effective date of ASC 606 to annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017. Accordingly, if the FASB chooses to delay the effective date to December 15, 2017, we would plan to adopt this standard in the first quarter of 2018. ASC 606 allows either full retrospective or modified retrospective transition and early adoption is not permitted. We continue to evaluate both the impact of this new standard on our consolidated financial statements and the transition method we will utilize for adoption.

Note 1 – General, Description of Business, and Basis of Presentation

General

Our accompanying interim consolidated financial statements do not include all the notes in our annual financial statements and, therefore, should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2014, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. The accompanying unaudited financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments and others that, in the opinion of management, are necessary to present fairly our interim financial statements.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, references in this report to “we,” “our,” “us,” or like terms refer to The Williams Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, references to “we,” “our,” and “us” include the operations in which we own interests accounted for as equity-method investments that are not consolidated in our financial statements. When we refer to our equity investees by name, we are referring exclusively to their businesses and operations.

Merger

On February 2, 2015, we completed the merger of our consolidated master limited partnerships, Williams Partners L.P. (Pre-merger WPZ) and Access Midstream Partners, L.P. (ACMP) (Merger). The merged partnership is named Williams Partners L.P. Under the terms of the merger agreement, each ACMP unitholder received 1.06152 ACMP units for each ACMP unit owned immediately prior to the Merger. In conjunction with the Merger, each Pre-merger WPZ common unit held by the public was exchanged for 0.86672 ACMP common units. Each Pre-merger WPZ common unit held by us was exchanged for 0.80036 ACMP common units. Prior to the closing of the Merger, the Class D limited partner units of Pre-merger WPZ, all of which were held by us, were converted into WPZ common units on a one-for-one basis pursuant to the terms of the WPZ partnership agreement. Following the Merger, we own approximately 60 percent of the merged partnership, including the general partner interest and incentive distribution rights (IDRs). In this report, we refer to the post-merger partnership as “WPZ” and the pre-merger entities as “Pre-merger WPZ” and “ACMP.”

Description of Business

Our operations are located principally in the United States and are organized into the Williams Partners and Williams NGL & Petchem Services reportable segments. All remaining business activities are included in Other. For periods after the ACMP Acquisition (See Note 2 – Acquisition), the former Access Midstream segment is now reported within Williams Partners. For periods prior to the ACMP Acquisition, the former Access Midstream segment is now reported within Other. Prior periods segment disclosures have been recast.

Williams Partners

Williams Partners consists of our consolidated master limited partnership, Williams Partners L.P. (WPZ), and primarily includes gas pipeline and midstream businesses.

WPZ’s gas pipeline businesses primarily consist of two interstate natural gas pipelines, which are Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco) and Northwest Pipeline LLC (Northwest Pipeline), and several joint venture investments in interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline systems, including a 50 percent equity-method investment in Gulfstream Natural Gas System, L.L.C., and a 41 percent interest in Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC (Constitution) (a consolidated entity).

WPZ’s midstream businesses primarily consist of (1) natural gas gathering, treating, and processing; (2) natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation, storage and transportation; (3) oil transportation; and (4) olefins production. The primary service areas are concentrated in major producing basins in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Wyoming, the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Ohio which include the Marcellus and Utica shale plays as well as the Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Barnett, Mid-Continent, and Niobrara areas.

The midstream businesses includes equity-method investments in natural gas gathering and processing assets and NGL fractionation and transportation assets, including a 49 percent equity-method investment in Utica East Ohio Midstream, LLC (UEOM), a 50 percent equity-method investment in the Delaware basin gas gathering system in the Mid-Continent region, a 69 percent equity-method investment in Laurel Mountain Midstream, LLC, a 58 percent equity-method investment in Caiman Energy II, LLC, a 60 percent equity-method investment in Discovery Producer Services LLC, a 50 percent equity-method investment in Overland Pass Pipeline, LLC, and Appalachia Midstream Services, LLC, which owns an approximate average 45 percent equity-method investment interest in 11 gas gathering systems in the Marcellus Shale. Subsequent to March 31, 2015, WPZ announced an agreement to acquire an additional equity interest in UEOM. Refer to Note 14 – Subsequent Events for further information.

The midstream businesses also include our Canadian midstream operations, which are comprised of an oil sands offgas processing plant near Fort McMurray, Alberta, an NGL/olefin fractionation facility and butylene/butane splitter facility at Redwater, Alberta, and the Boreal Pipeline.

Williams NGL & Petchem Services

Williams NGL & Petchem Services includes certain other domestic olefins pipeline assets and certain Canadian growth projects under development (including a propane dehydrogenation facility and a liquids extraction plant).

Other

Other includes other business activities that are not operating segments, as well as corporate operations.

Basis of Presentation

Consolidated master limited partnership

As of March 31, 2015, we own approximately 60 percent of the interests in WPZ, including the interests of the general partner, which are wholly owned by us, and IDRs.

The previously described Merger and other equity issuances by WPZ had the combined net impact of increasing Noncontrolling interests in consolidated subsidiaries by $260 million and decreasing Capital in excess of par value by $163 million and Deferred income taxes by $97 million in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

WPZ is self-funding and maintains separate lines of bank credit and cash management accounts and also has a commercial paper program. (See Note 9 – Debt and Banking Arrangements.) Cash distributions from WPZ to us, including any associated with our IDRs, occur through the normal partnership distributions from WPZ to all partners.

Discontinued operations

Unless indicated otherwise, the information in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements relates to our continuing operations.

Accounting standards issued but not yet adopted

In February 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2015-2 “Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis” (ASU 2015-2). ASU 2015-2 alters the models used to determine consolidation conclusions for certain entities, including limited partnerships, and may require additional disclosures. The ASU is effective for financial statements issued for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015 and interim periods within the reporting periods with either retrospective or modified retrospective presentation allowed. We will adopt the standard in the first quarter of 2016. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new standard on our consolidated financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-3 “Interest - Imputation of Interest: Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs” (ASU 2015-3). ASU 2015-3 simplifies the presentation of debt issuance costs by requiring such costs be presented as a deduction from the corresponding debt liability. The guidance is effective for financial statements issued for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015 and interim periods within the reporting periods and requires retrospective presentation. We will adopt the standard in the first quarter of 2016. We are evaluating the impact of the new standard.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09 establishing Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (ASC 606). ASC 606 establishes a comprehensive new revenue recognition model designed to depict the transfer of goods or services to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration the entity expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for those goods or services and requires significantly enhanced revenue disclosures. The standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within the reporting period. The FASB has recently proposed delaying the effective date of ASC 606 to annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017. Accordingly, if the FASB chooses to delay the effective date to December 15, 2017, we would plan to adopt this standard in the first quarter of 2018. ASC 606 allows either full retrospective or modified retrospective transition and early adoption is not permitted. We continue to evaluate both the impact of this new standard on our consolidated financial statements and the transition method we will utilize for adoption.