Acquisitions And Dispositions (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	5 Months Ended	7 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	8 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		7 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	4 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2010	May 25, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2009	Sep. 01, 2011 ETP [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 ETP [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Ranch JV [Member]	May 02, 2011 Lone Star [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Lone Star [Member]	Apr. 30, 2010 HPC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2009 HPC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 HPC [Member]	Sep. 01, 2011 MEP [Member]	May 25, 2010 MEP [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 MEP [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 MEP [Member]	Aug. 30, 2011 MEP [Member]	Apr. 30, 2010 EFS Haynesville [Member]	Mar. 31, 2009 EFS Haynesville [Member]	Mar. 31, 2009 Alinda Investors [Member]	Sep. 01, 2011 Zephyr [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Zephyr [Member]	Mar. 31, 2009 Partnership [Member]	Sep. 30, 2009 Partnership [Member] HPC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2009 Partnership [Member] HPC [Member]	May 02, 2011 Private Common Unit Offering [Member]	May 25, 2010 Private Common Unit Offering [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Interest in Subsidiaries and Affiliates									$ 592,700,000	$ 645,265,000						$ 85,828,000	$ 0
Ownership in affiliate							70.00%	33.33%		30.00%	49.99%			50.00%	49.90%									38.00%	43.00%	38.00%
Business acquisition, cost of acquired entity, purchase price										1,980,000,000
Private common unit offering																											8,500,001	26,266,791
Proceeds from common unit issuances, net of issuance costs				203,900,000
Deemed contributions (distributions)																									10,200,000
Addtional ownership in affiliate acquired											6.99%							0.10%							5.00%
Payments to acquire additional interest in affiliates														1,200,000		0	1,355,000
Payments for (Proceeds from) Businesses and Interest in Affiliates											92,100,000
Partners' Capital Account, Contributions											17,000,000			(200,000)	(8,900,000)
Working capital adjustment															4,600,000
Equity method investment sold, carrying amount						1,400,000									588,700,000				75,100,000
Partners' Capital Account, Private Placement of Units															584,400,000
Length Of Gas Pipeline System													450				500
Proceeds from sale of gathering and processing assets	70,200,000
Total revenues		24,200,000	9,500,000		46,200,000																		13,700,000
Payments to acquire businesses, net of cash acquired																						193,300,000
Net income																							5,900,000
Investment by third party percentage ownership																				12.00%	50.00%
Equity method investment, fair value																										401,400,000
Gain on disposition of assets												133,500,000														52,800,000
Business acquisition, cash paid by third party																				126,900,000	528,300,000
Transaction costs due to acquisition												5,500,000
Cash paid for acquisition																									$ 63,000,000