Ratio of shares of equity interests issued or issuable to acquire entity.

No definition available.

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- Definition

The amount of payables assumed associated with pending acquisition included in current liabilities, as of the Agreement date, related to future funding commitment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	lnco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The amount of payables assumed associated with pending acquisition included in noncurrent liabilities, as of the Agreement date, related to future funding commitment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	lnco_BusinessAcquisitionPurchasePriceAllocationNoncurrentLiabilitiesAssumed
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- Definition

The sale price of the divestiture set forth in the executed purchase and sale agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	lnco_ContractPriceOfDivestiture
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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Total consideration transferred towards the future funding commitment on joint venture.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	lnco_FutureFundingCommitmentOfJointVentureConsiderationTransferred
Namespace Prefix:	lnco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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- Definition

Amount of future funding for joint venture agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	lnco_FutureFundingOfJointVentureAgreement
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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of imputed discount on the future funding of joint venture

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	lnco_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percent interest acquired in joint venture agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	lnco_JointVentureInterestAcquired
Namespace Prefix:	lnco_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of acquisitions made during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
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- Definition

The total cost of the acquired entity including the cash paid to shareholders of acquired entities, fair value of debt and equity securities issued to shareholders of acquired entities, the fair value of the liabilities assumed, and direct costs of the acquisition.

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

The total purchase price of the acquired entity. This includes cash paid to equity interest holders of the acquired entity, fair value of debt and equity securities issued to equity holders of the acquired entity, and transaction costs paid to third parties to consummate the acquisition.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 51

-Subparagraph d

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 35

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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- Definition

For an acquired entity, price of a single share of a number of saleable stocks of a company.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

This element represents the acquisition-date fair value of the total consideration transferred which consists of the sum of the acquisition-date fair values of the assets transferred by the acquirer, the liabilities incurred by the acquirer to former owners of the acquiree, and the equity interests issued by the acquirer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141R

-Paragraph 68

-Subparagraph f

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141R

-Paragraph 39, 40

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 805

-SubTopic 30

-Section 30

-Paragraph 8

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911251&loc=d3e6613-128477

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 805

-SubTopic 30

-Section 30

-Paragraph 7

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6911251&loc=d3e6578-128477

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 805

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=7488404&loc=d3e6927-128479

+ Details

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- Definition

The loss recognized for any initial write-down from carrying value to fair value less cost to sell for a classified as held for sale.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 144

-Paragraph 33, 47

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 205

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6360339&loc=d3e1361-107760

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Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended						0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	Feb. 20, 2013	Apr. 03, 2013 Linn Energy, LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Linn Energy, LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Linn Energy, LLC [Member]	Jul. 31, 2012 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition BP Green River	May 01, 2012 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition East Texas	Apr. 03, 2012 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Anadarko	Mar. 31, 2013 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Anadarko	Mar. 31, 2013 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Anadarko	Dec. 31, 2012 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Anadarko	Feb. 20, 2013 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition, Berry [Member]	Dec. 15, 2011 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Plains	Nov. 18, 2011 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Permian Property	Mar. 30, 2012 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition BP	Dec. 31, 2012 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Various	Jun. 01, 2011 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Panther	May 11, 2011 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Williston Basin Property	Apr. 05, 2011 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition SandRidge Property	Mar. 31, 2011 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Concho	Nov. 16, 2010 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition Element	Oct. 14, 2010 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition CrownQuest/Patriot Property	Aug. 16, 2010 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Business Acquisition CrownQuest/Element	May 27, 2010 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Acquisition of interests in Henry Savings LP and Henry Savings Management LLC	Apr. 30, 2010 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Acquisition of interests in two wholly owned subsidiaries of HighMount Exploration and Production LLC Entity	Jan. 29, 2010 Linn Energy, LLC [Member] Acquisition of cetain oil and natural gas properties from certain affiliates of Merit Energy Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total consideration transferred					$ 990,000,000	$ 168,000,000						$ 542,000,000	$ 110,000,000	$ 1,160,000,000	$ 122,000,000	$ 224,000,000	$ 153,000,000	$ 239,000,000	$ 192,000,000	$ 118,000,000	$ 260,000,000	$ 95,000,000	$ 323,000,000	$ 327,000,000	$ 151,000,000
Number of acquisitions													2				2	2			2			2
Joint venture interest acquired							23.00%
Future funding of joint venture agreement							400,000,000
Business acquisitions - Net assets acquired				2,440,612,000			392,000,000
Imputed discount on future funding of joint venture							8,000,000
Future funding commitment of joint venture consideration transferred								15,000,000	217,000,000	201,000,000
Business acquisitions - current liabilities assumed							195,000,000
Business acquisitions - non-current liabilities assumed				196,601,000			197,000,000
Business Acquisition, Equity Interest Issued or Issuable, Exchange Ratio	125.00%										125.00%
Business Acquisition, Share Price	$ 46.2375										$ 46.2375
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price	4,400,000,000										4,400,000,000
Contract Price Of Divestiture		220,000,000
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale, Impairment Charge			$ 57,000,000