March 2013 and March 2012 Contract Operations Acquisitions (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 Common units	Mar. 31, 2012 Common units	Mar. 31, 2013 General partner units	Mar. 31, 2012 General partner units	Mar. 31, 2013 March 2013 Contract Operations Acquisition hp item	Mar. 31, 2013 March 2013 Contract Operations Acquisition	Mar. 31, 2013 March 2013 Contract Operations Acquisition Common units	Mar. 31, 2013 March 2013 Contract Operations Acquisition General partner units	Mar. 31, 2012 March 2012 Contract Operations Acquisition item hp	Mar. 31, 2012 March 2012 Contract Operations Acquisition
March 2013 and March 2012 Contract Operations Acquisition
Number of customers with service agreements							50				39
Number of compressor units used to provide compression services							363				406
Horsepower of compressor units used to provide compression services							256,000				188,000
Percentage of available horsepower of the combined U.S. contract operations business of Exterran Holdings and entity from service agreements acquired							8.00%				5.00%
Compressor units acquired							204				139
Horsepower of compressor units acquired							99,000				75,000
Horsepower of compressor units owned and used to provide service under contracts							6,000
Capacity of natural gas processing plant acquired (MMcf per day)											10
Net book value of fleet assets acquired							$ 158,500,000	$ 158,500,000			$ 149,500,000	$ 149,500,000
Accumulated depreciation of fleet assets acquired							94,900,000	94,900,000			67,000,000	67,000,000
Total consideration, excluding transaction costs							174,000,000	174,000,000			182,800,000	182,800,000
Long-term debt assumed in contract operations acquisitions		105,350,000									105,400,000
Cash paid		77,415,000									77,400,000
Units issued in connection with acquisition (in units)			7,123,527		144,644				7,100,000	145,000
Finite life intangible assets associated with customer relationships							3,100,000	3,100,000			5,000,000	5,000,000
Capital distributions	23,331,000	19,580,000	21,666,000	18,360,000	1,665,000	1,220,000		12,400,000				28,200,000
Pro Forma Financial Information
Revenue	118,407,000	107,961,000
Net income	18,876,000	8,366,000
Basic earnings per common unit (in dollar per unit)	$ 0.35	$ 0.15
Diluted earnings per common unit (in dollar per unit)	$ 0.35	$ 0.15
Additional pro forma reduction of net income (loss) allocable to the entity's limited partners	$ 0	$ 200,000