Document and Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	May. 02, 2016
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
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2016
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Units Outstanding		218,919,380