Equity and Partners' Capital - Additional Information (details)			3 Months Ended							3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Anadarko [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Public [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Public [Member] Western Gas Partners [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Western Gas Partners [Member] Other Subsidiaries of Anadarko [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Common Units [Member] Western Gas Partners [Member] Other Subsidiaries of Anadarko [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Incentive Distribution Rights [Member] Western Gas Partners [Member]
Schedule of Investments [Line Items]
Units owned	218,903,498	218,895,515		199,137,365	19,766,133	67,878,758	49,296,205		757,619
Ownership interest				91.00%	9.00%	56.40%	41.00%	0.60%
General partner units owned							2,406,763
General partner's interest			2.00%							100.00%