Document and Entity Information - shares	6 Months Ended
Document and Entity Information - shares	Jun. 30, 2015	Jul. 28, 2015
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Trading Symbol	WGP
Entity Registrant Name	Western Gas Equity Partners, LP
Entity Central Index Key	0001423902
Document Type	10-Q/A
Document Period End Date	Jun. 30, 2015
Amendment Flag	true
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Amendment Description	Explanatory Note We are filing this Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-Q/A (this “Form 10-Q/A”) to amend our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2015, originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on July 30, 2015 (the “Original Filing”), to restate our unaudited consolidated financial statements and related disclosures as of, and for the three and six months ended, June 30, 2015. This Form 10-Q/A also amends certain other items in the Original Filing, as noted below. Restatement Background In connection with the preparation of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, it was determined that there was an error in the impairment test calculation performed as of March 31, 2015. Specifically, the impact of WES’s commodity price swap agreements with Anadarko was incorrectly included when performing an assessment to identify a triggering event that would necessitate a calculation to determine whether the net book value of certain midstream assets exceeded their fair value. It was determined that the error caused a material understatement in impairment expense for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. As a result of the discovery of this error, on January 27, 2016, the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of our general partner, after discussion with management and KPMG LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, concluded that the unaudited consolidated financial statements included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2015, June 30, 2015, and September 30, 2015, should no longer be relied upon due to changes related to impairments. Accordingly, we are restating our unaudited consolidated financial statements as of, and for the three and six months ended, June 30, 2015, to reflect an impairment charge in the first quarter of 2015 of $264.4 million related to WES’s Red Desert complex, located in southwestern Wyoming. This impairment loss recorded as of March 31, 2015, also impacts depreciation and amortization for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015. See Note 1—Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Restated) in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements under Part I, Item 1 of this Form 10-Q/A for more information regarding the impact of this adjustment. In connection with the need to restate our unaudited consolidated financial statements as a result of the error noted above, we have determined that it would be appropriate within this Form 10-Q/A to make adjustments for certain previously unrecorded immaterial adjustments. See Note 1—Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Restated) in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements under Part I, Item 1 of this Form 10-Q/A for more information regarding the impact of such adjustments. This report on Form 10-Q/A is presented as of the filing date of the Original Filing and does not reflect events occurring after that date, or modify or update the information contained therein in any way other than as required to correct the error and record the adjustments described above. Internal Control Consideration The Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of our general partner have determined that there was a deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting that constituted a material weakness, as defined by SEC regulations, at June 30, 2015. For a discussion of management’s evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures and the material weakness identified, see Part I, Item 4 of this Form 10-Q/A.
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Units Outstanding		218,913,688