Segment information (Condensed Statements Of Comprehensive Earnings And Balance Sheets Of Reportable Segments) (Details) $ in Millions		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers										$ 10,304	$ 13,145	$ 19,566
Asset dispositions and other		$ 540	$ 1,400							1,893		1,072
Depreciation, depletion and amortization										1,792	3,129	3,319
Asset impairments		100	300	$ 1,500	$ 3,000	$ 5,300	$ 5,900	$ 4,200	$ 5,500	4,975	20,820	1,953
Restructuring and transaction costs										267	78	46
Interest expense										911	523	536
Earnings (loss) before income taxes		375	1,178	(1,745)	(3,685)	(5,542)	(5,623)	(4,479)	(5,624)	(3,877)	(21,268)	4,059
Income tax expense (benefit)										(173)	(6,065)	2,368
Net earnings (loss)										(3,704)	(15,203)	1,691
Net earnings (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests										(402)	(749)	84
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Devon		331	$ 993	$ (1,570)	$ (3,056)	(4,532)	$ (3,507)	$ (2,816)	$ (3,599)	(3,302)	(14,454)	1,607
Property and equipment, net		16,190				19,068				16,190	19,068	36,296
Total assets		25,913				29,451				25,913	29,451	50,568
Capital expenditures, including acquisitions										4,191	6,233	13,559
Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Interest expense										(84)	(46)	(44)
Total assets		(62)				(97)				(62)	(97)	(124)
Eliminations [Member] | Intersegment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers										$ (701)	(679)	(859)
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | segment										1
United States [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers	[1]									$ 5,722	8,360	14,854
Asset dispositions and other	[1]									1,367		(5)
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	[1]									928	2,220	2,475
Asset impairments	[1]									2,809	18,000	12
Restructuring and transaction costs	[1]									242	54
Interest expense	[1]									624	368	441
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	[1]									(2,051)	(18,214)	4,390
Income tax expense (benefit)	[1]									(8)	(5,650)	1,797
Net earnings (loss)	[1]									(2,043)	(12,564)	2,593
Net earnings (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	[1]									1	1	1
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Devon	[1]									(2,044)	(12,565)	2,592
Property and equipment, net	[1]	7,358				8,811				7,358	8,811	24,463
Total assets	[1]	12,163				14,550				12,163	14,550	31,994
Capital expenditures, including acquisitions	[1]									2,880	4,575	11,214
Canada [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers										1,031	1,012	2,063
Asset dispositions and other										542		1,077
Depreciation, depletion and amortization										360	522	560
Asset impairments										1,293	1,257	1,941
Restructuring and transaction costs										19	24	46
Interest expense										181	94	85
Earnings (loss) before income taxes										(942)	(1,670)	(657)
Income tax expense (benefit)										(165)	(445)	495
Net earnings (loss)										(777)	(1,225)	(1,152)
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Devon										(777)	(1,225)	(1,152)
Property and equipment, net		2,575				4,590				2,575	4,590	6,790
Total assets		3,536				5,457				3,536	5,457	8,509
Capital expenditures, including acquisitions										229	680	1,344
General Partner And EnLink [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers	[1]									3,551	3,773	2,649
Asset dispositions and other	[1]									(16)
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	[1]									504	387	284
Asset impairments	[1]									873	1,563
Restructuring and transaction costs	[1]									6
Interest expense	[1]									190	107	54
Earnings (loss) before income taxes	[1]									(884)	(1,384)	326
Income tax expense (benefit)	[1]										30	76
Net earnings (loss)	[1]									(884)	(1,414)	250
Net earnings (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	[1]									(403)	(750)	83
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Devon	[1]									(481)	(664)	167
Property and equipment, net	[1]	6,257				5,667				6,257	5,667	5,043
Total assets	[1]	$ 10,276				$ 9,541				10,276	9,541	10,189
Capital expenditures, including acquisitions	[1]									1,082	978	1,001
General Partner And EnLink [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Intersegment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues from external customers	[1]									$ 701	$ 679	$ 859

[1] Due to Devon’s control of EnLink through its control of the General Partner, the acquisition of VEX by EnLink from Devon in the second quarter of 2015 was considered a transfer of net assets between entities under common control, and EnLink was required to recast its financial statements as of December 31, 2015 to include the activities of such assets from the date of common control. Therefore, the results of VEX have been moved from the U.S. segment to the EnLink segment for the recasted periods.