Investment In Unconsolidated Affiliates (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	8 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	7 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended						0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	May 02, 2011 Lone Star [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Lone Star [Member]	Sep. 01, 2011 MEP [Member]	May 31, 2010 MEP [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 MEP [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 MEP [Member]	Aug. 30, 2011 MEP [Member]	May 25, 2010 MEP [Member]	May 25, 2010 HPC [Member] years	Apr. 30, 2010 HPC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 HPC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 HPC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 ETP [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Ranch JV [Member]	May 02, 2011 Private Common Unit Offering [Member]	May 25, 2010 Private Common Unit Offering [Member]
Ownership in affiliate			30.00%	50.00%					49.90%		49.99%			70.00%	33.33%
Partnership's interest, carrying value			$ 628,700,000			$ 652,500,000	$ 613,900,000					$ 682,100,000	$ 698,800,000
Equity method investment, excess fair value over book value adjustment, long-lived assets										154,900,000
Addtional ownership in affiliate acquired								0.10%			6.99%
Payments to acquire additional interest in affiliates				1,200,000		0	1,355,000
Long-lived assets, useful life, minimum										15
Long-lived assets, useful life, maximum										30
Equity method investment, excess fair value over book value adjustment, not attributed to specific assets										32,400,000
Payments for (Proceeds from) Businesses and Interest in Affiliates											92,100,000
Contributions		592,700,000	645,265,000			85,828,000	0
Private common unit offering																8,500,001	26,266,791
Proceeds from common unit issuances, net of issuance costs	$ 203,900,000
Partneship ownership interest percentage					49.90%