Subsequent Events (details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended								1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Feb. 28, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Western Gas Partners [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Western Gas Partners [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Western Gas Partners [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Oct. 31, 2009 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Minimum [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Maximum [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility 2014 [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility 2014 [Member] Minimum [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility 2014 [Member] Maximum [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility 2014 [Member] Alternate Base Rate [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility 2014 [Member] Alternate Base Rate [Member] Minimum [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility 2014 [Member] Alternate Base Rate [Member] Maximum [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Revolving Credit Facility 2014 [Member] Alternate Base Rate [Member] Percentage Above Federal Funds Effective Rate [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Texas Express [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Front Range Pipeline LLC [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Texas Express And Front Range [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Texas Express And Front Range [Member] Common Units [Member]	Feb. 28, 2014 Western Gas Partners Long Term Incentive Plan [Member] Western Gas Partners [Member]
Subsequent Event [Line Items]
Vested					14,695	14,260	15,119																	1,280
Outstanding borrowings				$ 60,000,000									$ 60,000,000
Revolving credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity									800,000,000.0	450,000,000			1,200,000,000
Revolving credit facility, expandable maximum borrowing capacity													1,500,000,000
Interest rate percent above LIBOR														0.975%	1.45%	1.00%	0.00%	0.45%	0.50%
Facility fee								0.25%	0.25%		0.20%	0.35%		0.15%	0.30%
Equity method investment ownership																				20.00%	33.33%
Equity method investment cost																						375,000,000
Cash on hand																						6,300,000
Borrowings	$ 957,503,000	$ 1,041,648,000	$ 1,055,939,000																			$ 350,000,000
Units issued																							308,490
Implied price per unit																						$ 60.78